Wisconsin Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that David Whitworth, 42, of Madison, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty to production of child pornography and receipt of child pornography before Chief U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marie P. Grisanti and Maura K. O’Donnell, who are handling the case, stated that the defendant posed as a modeling agent online to induce minors in the Western District of New York and elsewhere to produce pornographic images of themselves. The minors then e-mailed the images to Whitworth via the Internet.

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 United States 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 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.

The plea is the result of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Zack; and Lancaster Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gerald Gill.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 23, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. before Chief Judge Skretny.