Fishers Man Sentenced to 40 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

INDIANAPOLIS—Jeffrey Taylor, age 46, a former resident of Noblesville, Indiana, was sentenced late yesterday to 40 years in prison following his conviction for distributing child pornography through the Internet, announced Timothy M. Morrison, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana.

Taylor, appearing before U.S. District Court Judge Larry J. McKinney in Indianapolis, Indiana, was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release following his release from prison and to forfeit all items seized during the investigation that were used to commit his offense.

On January 6, 2009, Taylor distributed video and image files of child pornography through a computer in his Noblesville home. After discovering his criminal activity, federal, state, and local law enforcement agents found during a search of his residence that Taylor’s collection of child pornography included over 10,000 images files and 500 video files of child pornography. The content of this material included sexually explicit material involving very young children, bestiality involving minors, and sadistic abuse. Taylor made this collection available to other persons on the Internet so that he could obtain child pornography from them in exchange.

According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Steve DeBrota, who prosecuted the case for the United States, during the investigation it was discovered that Taylor also molested four children he knew in the past. Under federal sentencing law, this conduct was used to enhance his sentence. The molestations occurred at various locations in Indiana over a period of several years. Taylor denied these molestations during his testimony, but Judge McKinney found untrue his denial of responsibility for this child sexual abuse.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Indiana State Police, the Hamilton County Metropolitan Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

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 Attorney’s 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.