Central Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Daniel Justin Knight, age 38, of Central, pled guilty today in federal court in Greenville to possession of child pornography, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(A). Senior United States District Judge Henry M. Herlong, Jr. of Greenville accepted the plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report, which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on January 11, 2011, an FBI agent in Los Angeles, California signed on to the publicly available peer-to-peer file-sharing program using an undercover screen name. The agent observed that the user “Todayfun” was sharing 350 files. Upon browsing the files, the agent saw titles indicative of child pornography and downloaded 32 images directly from Todayfun. The images downloaded appeared to be minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. An administrative subpoena revealed that the IP address associated with this user came back to a Daniel Justin Knight of Central, South Carolina.

The FBI in Greenville obtained a search warrant and executed it on February 28, 2011. Knight’s computer was seized and a forensic examination revealed multiple images and movies of minors engaged in sex acts and lascivious display of the genitalia.

Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty Knight can receive is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 10 years, plus a special assessment of $100.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville 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 Attorney’s 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.