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Press Release

Bucks County Man Indicted On Child Pornography And Obstruction Of Justice Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

 

PHILADELPHIA – Norman Ridgeway, 26, of Croydon, Pennsylvania, was charged by Indictment today with production of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.

Additionally, Ridgeway was charged with one count each of obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence. According to the indictment, while law enforcement was in pursuit of Ridgeway, Ridgeway “wiped” his cell phone by resetting it to factory settings in an effort to alter, destroy, and conceal evidence of child pornography. Further, Ridgeway allegedly made a telephone call in which he instructed and commanded another person to locate, obtain, and destroy an SD memory card he kept in his wallet which contained child pornography.

If convicted, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, with a maximum possible sentence of 100 years in prison, a possible fine, three years of supervised release, and a $700 special assessment.

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 case was investigated by the FBI and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, with assistance provided by the Bensalem Township Police Department, the Warminster Township Police Department, the Middletown Township Police Department, and the Bristol Township Police Department.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James A. Petkun.

 

An indictment is an accusation.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Updated April 27, 2016

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Project Safe Childhood