Littleton Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

DENVER—Calvin Dawdy, age 52, of Littleton, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Marcia S. Krieger to serve 10 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney John Walsh and FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Thomas Ravenelle announced. After serving his prison sentence, Chief Judge Krieger ordered Dawdy to serve five years on supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution totaling $6,000 to the victims of his crime. The defendant must also register as a sex offender. Dawdy, who appeared at the hearing free on bond, was remanded into custody.

Dawdy was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on November 8, 2012. He pled guilty before Chief Judge Krieger on April 3, 2013. Dawdy was sentenced on July 11, 2013.

According to court documents, including the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, in December 2010, Dawdy knowingly possessed approximately 15,070 images and video files depicting child pornography on his laptop computer and external hard drive. Of the child pornography images and videos in Dawdy’s possession, approximately 95 percent depicted children under 12 years old, most of whom were girls. In February 2010 and in September 2010, Dawdy shared portions of his extensive collection of child pornography with federal agents working in undercover capacities.

As a condition of his guilty plea, Dawdy agreed to forfeit and abandon any and all his rights, title, and interest in the child pornography images, the computer and external hard drive containing child pornography, and any other real or personal property used or intended to be used to commit or promote the commission of the offenses alleged in the indictment.

“Lengthy prison sentences should send a deterrent message that possessing child pornography is a serious crime with serious consequences,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.

“Our nation’s children are the most vulnerable victims,” said FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Thomas P. Ravenelle. “The FBI remains committed to working with our state and local law enforcement partners and the United States Attorney’s Office to aggressively investigate all cases involving the sexual exploitation of children.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Violent Crimes Against Children Program.

Dawdy was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alecia Riewerts Wolak.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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, PSC 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 PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html.