New Jersey Man Sentenced to 84 Months in Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—A 22-year-old New Jersey man, Jeremy Slagle, has been sentenced to 84 months in prison for Distributing Material Involving Child Pornography, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.

Slagle received his sentence on Friday, January 9, 2009, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before the Honorable Henry H. Kennedy, Jr., who, pursuant to the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, also ordered that the defendant register as a sex offender for the remainder of his lifetime. Once released from prison, the defendant will be on supervised release for ten years, and he will not be permitted to work or volunteer with children, nor will he be permitted to use or access the Internet without prior written approval. Slagle entered a guilty plea in this case on October 15, 2008.

According to the government's evidence, in December 2007, Metropolitan Police Detective Timothy Palchak assumed the online identity of a cooperating witness. After doing so, Detective Palchak was contacted by Slagle. An on-line conversation between Detective Palchak and Slagle ensued. During the course of the on-line contact, Slagle sent to Detective Palchak via the Internet 33 images depicting child pornography and eight video clips containing child pornography. Slagle sent the images and video clips containing child pornography from his parents' home in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Law enforcement subsequently executed a search warrant at Slagle's parents' home, and seized Slagle's computer. A search of Slagle's computer revealed over 268 images of child pornography and 21 videos of child pornography. Some of the images of child pornography possessed and distributed by the defendant involved prepubescent minors or minors who had not attained the age of 12 years, and some of the images and videos he possessed portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence. The images located on Slagle's computer were taken to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children where they were compared with NCMEC's Child Recognition & Identification System. The analysis resulted in 43 of the images being identified as images of known minors, i.e., under age 18.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneyss Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor commended the outstanding investigative work of Metropolitan Police Detective Timothy Palchak and the following members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force who provided investigative support: FBI Agent Scott Schelbe and Metropolitan Police Detectives Jonathan Andrews and Miguel Miranda. He also recognized FBI Agents Daniel Damron and Andrew Smallman, who conducted the forensic analysis of Slagle's computer, and FBI Agent Jamie Banko, who coordinated the investigation in New Jersey. Lastly, the U.S. Attorney praised the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Colone of the District of New Jersey, who assisted with the New Jersey aspects of the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Saybolt, who handled the initial investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine K. Connelly, who prosecuted the case.