Rocklin Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that on Thursday, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment charging Barry C. Steiber, 52, of Rocklin, with sharing, receipt, and possession of child pornography.

According to the indictment, in 2008 and 2009, Steiber amassed a collection of images depicting the sexual exploitation of children and traded those images with other people over the Internet. Court documents indicate that a computer recovered from his home in 2009 was found to contain thousands of images of child pornography.

Steiber was arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd, where he entered a not guilty plea. He was ordered released on $25,000 unsecured signature bond and special conditions. His next court appearance is scheduled for January 30, 2012, before United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Sacramento Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Morris is prosecuting the case.

The maximum statutory penalty for Sharing or receiving child pornography is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of at least five years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing Project Safe Childhood initiative which was launched to increase federal prosecutions of sexual predators of children, and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children including child pornography trafficking. As a part of PSC, the United States Attorney’s Office has teamed with state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe Internet use, thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.