Erie Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving, Possessing Child Pornography

United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today that Jason Scalise, a resident of Erie, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court to violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children.

Scalise, age 33, pleaded guilty to two counts before Senior United States District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr.

In connection with the guilty plea, Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold advised the court that Scalise received and possessed computer images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Specifically, Scalise was found to have saved on computer discs approximately 200 movies and over 500 hundred images of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity.

Launched in February 2006, Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Judge Cohill scheduled sentencing for May 11, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of thirty years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Pending sentencing, the court continued Scalise on electronic monitoring.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Scalise.