Richmond Man Sentenced To 108 Months In Prison For Possession Of Child Pornography

OAKLAND– Dumaka Hammond was sentenced to 9 years in prison for possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.  The sentence was handed down today by the Honorable James Donato, U.S. District Judge.

According to papers filed with the court, Hammond, 40, of Richmond, admitted using an internet tool known as Tor to access and download child pornography.  Hammond acknowledged that some of the images he downloaded depicted sadistic or masochistic content and some images and videos involved prepubescent children.  Additionally, Hammond acknowledged that law enforcement found and removed from his home a laptop computer that contained more than 300 child pornographic images.  On March 10, 2016, a federal grand jury indicted Hammond, charging him with possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).  Hammond pled guilty to the charge on March 8, 2017.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Donato ordered Hammond to serve a fifteen year period of supervised release to follow his custodial sentence.  Hammond was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to a child victim depicted in his collection.  Hammond has been in custody since his arrest in March 2016. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Green is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Trina Khadoo.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the FBI. 

Members of the public with information regarding suspected child predators or suspicious activity may contact Homeland Security Investigations through the toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or complete the online tip form at: https://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form.  Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.  Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may also be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.