Bloomsburg Man Convicted Of Child Sex Offenses

WILLIAMSPORT—The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that David Dewald, age 43, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, was convicted of two counts of attempted production of child pornography, and three counts of online enticement and attempted online enticement of minors for sexual purposes, after a five-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the jury deliberated for approximately two and a half hours before finding Dewald guilty on November 8, 2019, of all  the charges.  At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Dewald used his cell phone and the internet to attempt to persuade two female minors (ages 13 and 16) to take and send him sexually explicit photographs of themselves, and persuaded a third female minor (age 14) to meet him for sexual purposes. Dewald’s conduct occurred between July 2015 and May 2016.

After the verdict, Judge Brann ordered Dewald to be detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals pending sentencing. A presentence investigation report will be completed and sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Delaware County Detectives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francis P. Sempa and Jeffrey St. John prosecuted the case.

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 tab "resources."

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The maximum penalty under federal law for the offenses life imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. The defendant also faces a mandatory minimum 15-year prison sentence for the attempted production of child pornography charges, and a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence for the online enticement and attempted online enticement charges. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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