Leader of child exploitation ring sentenced

Indianapolis – The Leader of Operation Bulldog was sentenced to 85 years for conspiracy to trafficking child pornography announced Josh J. Minkler, U.S. Attorney and Leslie Caldwell, Department of Justice, Criminal Division.

Domminich Shaw, 35, a citizen of the U.K., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William T. Lawrence of the Southern District of Indiana, who ordered that he also serve a lifetime of supervised release.  Shaw pleaded guilty on Oct. 22, 2015, to 26 counts, including conspiracy to advertise child pornography and conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography.  He was indicted by a grand jury in Indianapolis on Feb. 23, 2011, and was extradited from the United Kingdom on Dec. 20, 2014.           

Shaw is a repeat offender who was convicted in the U.K. of “indecent assault” on four different females under 13.

According to the court records, Shaw created and administered a website that contained child pornography involving infants and toddlers.  This website allowed Shaw and other co-conspirators to distribute and advertise to each other images and videos, and send one another related messages, so that the child pornography would be shared with other members.  Shaw participated on the website under aliases, including “Nepi” and several variations of that word.  The word “nepi” is associated with nepiophilia, the sexual attraction to babies, toddlers and very young children.

This case is part of Operation Bulldog, in which nine individuals have been convicted in the Southern District of Indiana.

-           David Ryan Bostic, Life

-           Javahn Algere, 144 months

-           Jeremy Labrec, 330 months

-           Richard Szulborski, 180 months

-           Christopher Reid, 420 months

-           Justin Manz, 60 months

-           Nicholas King, 96 months

“It does not matter where you are in the world, if you exploit a child in this district, the United States Attorney’s Office will find you, identify you, arrest you and prosecute you.  Defendant Shaw will have 85 years for that message to sink in” said Minkler.

The FBI’s Indianapolis Division and London’s Metropolitan Police Service investigated the case.  Trial Attorney Austin M. Berry of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Senior Litigation Counsel Steven DeBrota of the Southern District of Indiana prosecuted the case.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided assistance in this matter.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.justice.gov/psc.