Chico Man Indicted for Downloading Child Pornography

SACRAMENTO—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment on March 8, 2012 charging Cassidy Adam Franklin, 24, of Chico, with receipt of child pornography.

According to the indictment, between January 6, 2009 and June 21, 2010, Franklin downloaded images of child pornography from the Internet. On March 12, 2012, FBI agents and Butte County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Franklin. He made his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan and was ordered detained.

This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI, the Chico Police Department, and the Butte County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Franklin faces a statutory penalty of five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, if convicted, 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 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 Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.