Springfield Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Child Exploitation Charge

BOSTON – Daniel Lorenz, 45, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Springfield to 10 years in prison.  In November 2015, Lorenz pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to one count of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

On March 13, 2014, federal agents executed a search warrant at Lorenz’s Springfield residence.  Pursuant to the search warrant, agents seized Lorenz’s personal computer and found 800 videos of child pornography, including many depicting the rape, bondage, and sexual torture of girls as young as three years old. 

At the time of the search, Lorenz d told agents that he had a large quantity of child pornography, including image and video files, on his computer and that most of the files depicted girls between the ages of eight and fourteen.  Lorenz admitted that he had collected child pornography for at least three or four years and distributed or received child pornography three times per week using e-mail accounts.  Lorenz also admitted that he created and utilized multiple social media accounts, including various Facebook and Google+ profiles in the name and image of a minor female, in order to make contact with girls to obtain child pornography and to engage in sexually explicit conversations, which he found “sexually and emotionally exciting.” 

At sentencing, Judge Young told the defendant, “you were active in trying to turn this fantasy into reality,” and stated that the defendant’s misconduct “reveals to the Court a most dangerous situation.” 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today.  Assistance was also provided by the Springfield Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.