Rockville Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Possessing and Distributing Child Pornography

GREENBELT, MD—U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced John Raley, age 43, of Rockville, Maryland, today to seven years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for possessing and distributing child pornography. Judge Titus ordered that upon his release from prison, Raley must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Ronald T. Hosko, Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Criminal Investigative Division.

According to the plea agreement, Raley was a member of approximately 25 groups on a social networking site that trafficked images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Raley distributed approximately 187 images of child pornography from his home and office to 23 groups on multiple occasions, including August and December 2009, during the course of a federal investigation targeting traffickers of child pornography.

On January 13, 2011, a federal search warrant was executed at his residence and former place of employment. Computers and other digital media were seized that contained over 200,000 images and approximately 4,082 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sadistic or masochistic depictions of children.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas, who prosecuted the case.