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Press Release

Yuba City Man Charged with Receipt of Child Pornography

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

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On May 24, 2018, a federal grand jury indicted Scott Stephen Howard, 33, of Yuba City, charging him with receipt of child pornography, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Howard knowingly received visual depictions of minors engaged in explicit conduct between November 2014 and April 2016.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Schuller Hitchcock and Matthew G. Morris are prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Howard faces a minimum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet safety education.

Updated May 30, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Press Release Number: 2:18-cr-100 JAM