Maryland Man Sentenced to More Than Eight Years in Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—Tonio Calhoun, 31, of Bowie, Maryland, was sentenced today to 100 months in prison for distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr.; Debra Evans Smith, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Calhoun pled guilty to the charge in October 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable John D. Bates. Upon completion of his prison term, Calhoun will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also must register as a sex offender for 25 years.

According to the government’s evidence, in April 2012, an undercover officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force entered a social network site. Between April 30, 2012 and June 13, 2012, the undercover officer and defendant communicated by e-mail and text message. During this time, Calhoun sent the officer two images of child pornography and expressed interest in getting together for the purpose of photographing young girls in public. On June 13, 2012, Calhoun traveled to a previously arranged meeting place, where he was arrested.

Following the arrest, law enforcement reviewed the defendant’s cell phone, laptop computer, and mail accounts and identified more than 80 videos of child pornography and more than 300 other images of child pornography.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. Project Safe Childhood is 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. Attorneys’ 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 those who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.com.

In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Acting Assistant Director in Charge Smith and Chief Lanier praised the MPD Detectives and Special Agents of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Julieanne Himelstein, who provided assistance in the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassidy Kesler Pinegar, who prosecuted the matter.