Scottsburg Man Charged with Production of Child Pornography

Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that MARK WILLIAM ARMSTRONG, 40, Scottsburg, Indiana, was charged today with sexual exploitation of children for producing child pornography, following an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with assistance from the Fishers Police Department, the Indiana State Police, the Hamilton County Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The complaint alleges that in August, 2008, ARMSTRONG engaged in sexually explicit conduct with two minor relatives for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct. The complaint also alleged that ARMSTRONG produced the visual depiction using materials that had moved in interstate commerce.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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.

“Predators who victimize children - our most vulnerable citizens - must know that we will not rest until they are brought to justice,” said Daniel T. Dill, resident agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Indianapolis. “The victimization of children can never be tolerated and ICE will use all its investigative authorities to target child sex predators. Individuals who engage in such conduct should know that they will be fully prosecuted for hurting our children.”

According to Assistant United States Attorney A. Brant Cook, who is prosecuting the case for the government, ARMSTRONG, if convicted, faces a minimum, mandatory 15 years of imprisonment, and a maximum possible prison sentence of 30 years on each count, which could be run consecutively to each other. He also faces a maximum possible fine of $250,000 on each count. An initial hearing was held this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Michael Naville in U.S. District Court in New Albany. ARMSTRONG was ordered detained pending resolution of this case.

The complaint is an allegation only, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial or by guilty plea.