Catawba Man Sentenced in Child Pornography Case

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Ronald McAteer, age 53, of Catawba, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court for possession of child pornography, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A. United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie of Columbia sentenced McAteer to 60 months’ imprisonment to be followed by supervised release for the rest of his life. Additionally, McAteer must register as a sex offender.

Evidence in this case established that in December 2009, an FBI agent from Chicago, Illinois downloaded approximately 400 images of child pornography from McAteer’s computer through use of a file-sharing program that McAteer was using on his computer, thereby making the images freely available to anyone with a compatible program. After agents determined that McAteer’s computer was the source for the images, they obtained a federal search warrant. On March 11, 2010, agents executed the warrant. During the search, McAteer admitted that he had shared child pornography over the Internet. When agents searched his computer, they found over 1000 images and 67 movies of child pornography.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Dean A. Eichelberger of the Columbia office handled the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.