Former Redding Man Sentenced to More Than Seven Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

SACRAMENTO, CA—Joe Weldon Taylor, 34, formerly of Redding, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. to seven years and four months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for possessing child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, in January 2012, the FBI executed a search warrant at Taylor’s apartment in Redding and found an iPod containing hundreds of images of child pornography. Taylor pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on January 3, 2013. At sentencing, Chief Judge England observed that there was evidence in the record that Taylor had sexually abused a child on at least one occasion and that this evidence supported a sentence requiring Taylor to be supervised by the United States Probation Office for the remainder of his life. Taylor was also ordered to pay restitution to compensate one of the children depicted in the child pornography in his possession.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Redding Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Redding. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew G. Morris prosecuted the case.

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 those who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. Click on the “Resources” tab for information about Internet safety.