Monroe County Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offense

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 34-year-old Long Pond resident was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik to serve five years in prison for receiving child pornography.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, the defendant, Jonathan Brownlee, previously pleaded guilty to using a computer to download images of child pornography. The offense occurred during April through December 2009.

Brownlee was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2010 as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Delaware County Detectives, and Pocono Mountain Regional Police.

Judge Kosik also ordered that Brownlee be placed on supervised release for 20 years after serving his prison sentence and is required to pay a special assessment of $100. Brownlee will also be required to register as a sex offender and comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.