Federal Defendant Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Exploitation Offenses

ERIE, Pa. - A former resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 15 years in jail and 12 years of supervised release on his conviction of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children, Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman announced today.

Senior United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Kenneth Wayne Spencer, Jr., 39.

According to information presented to the court, Spencer received and possessed computer images and movies depicting prepubescent minors, as young as infants, being sexually assaulted. During the FBI’s investigation, Spencer admitted that he had previously sexually abused two children, ages three and four. Spencer also attempted to hide his online receipt of child sexual abuse material by using another individual’s Internet connection. Spencer was previously convicted of a child exploitation offense in Pennsylvania.

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 (CEOS), 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.justice.gov/psc.

Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Acting United States Attorney Kaufman commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Spencer.