Former Head of Los Angeles City Neighborhood Commission Indicted by Federal Grand Jury on Child Pornography Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 29, 2012 |
LOS ANGELES—A San Fernando Valley man who was president of the city of Los Angeles’ Board of Neighborhood Commissioners surrendered this morning to special agents of the FBI after being charged with federal child pornography offenses.
Albert Noah Abrams, 63, of Tarzana, was named yesterday in an eight-count indictment that accuses him with distributing, receiving, and possessing child pornography.
Abrams is expected to be arraigned on the indictment this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
The indictment charges Abrams with five counts of distributing child pornography. According to an affidavit in support of a search warrant executed at Abrams’ residence last summer, authorities looking into a peer-to-peer file-sharing network were able to download more than 150 videos and images depicting child pornography from a computer that was located at Abrams’ house.
The indictment further charges Abrams with two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
Abrams resigned from the Board of Neighborhood Commissions in early August, days after federal authorities executed a search warrant at his residence.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.
The charges of distribution of child pornography and receipt of child pornography carry mandatory minimum sentences of five years in federal prison and statutory maximum sentences of 20 years. The charge of possession of child pornography carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Therefore, if he is convicted of all counts in the indictment, Abrams would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 150 years.
The investigation into Abrams was conducted by the Southern California Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Team (SAFE Team).