Judge Sentences San Angelo, Texas Man to More Than 16 Years in Federal Prison on Child Pornography Conviction

LUBBOCK, TX—U.S. District Judge Sam A. Cummings sentenced Eric Granville Danilowicz, 38, of San Angelo, Texas, to 200 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in September 2010, to one count of transporting child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks, of the Northern District of Texas. Danilowicz has been in custody since his arrest on May 7, 2010, on related charges outlined in a federal criminal complaint.

According to documents filed in the case, using a computer located at his residence in San Angelo, Danilowicz interacted with other persons on the Internet to exchange images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. From January through March 2010, Danilowicz communicated with a person on a social networking site whose profile reflected that he was an 18-year-old man from Massachusetts. However, Danilowicz was actually communicating with an undercover police officer. On March 26, 2010, Danilowicz sent that undercover officer three zip files containing images of minor males engaged in sexually explicit conduct. A search warrant later executed at Danilowicz’s residence resulted in the discovery of numerous images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

In April 2004, Danilowicz was convicted of 20 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor in Hamilton County, Ohio, and was sentenced to two years in prison.

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 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; the San Angelo, Texas, Police Department; the Keene, New Hampshire, Police Department; and the Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas, prosecuted the case.