KNOXVILLE, TN—Kelly Louise Fitzmaurice, 34, of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, Chief U.S. District Judge, to serve 151 months in prison for child pornography offenses. Fitzmaurice pleaded guilty in February 2014 to a federal indictment charging her with possession and distribution of child pornography.

According to a plea agreement on file with the U.S. District Court in Knoxville, 28 videos and 177 images of child pornography were found on Fitzmaurice’s computer. Some of the images depicted known child victims, sexually explicit images of prepubescent children, and portrayals of sadistic or masochistic conduct.

The indictment and subsequent conviction of Fitzmaurice were the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit of the Harriman Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank M. Dale, Jr. represented the United States.

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 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.