Largo Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Receipt of Child Pornography

TAMPA, FL—Today, U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announced that U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara has sentenced Scott Martin Wiegand (age 43, of Largo) to 15 years and six months in federal prison for receipt of child pornography. Wiegand had pleaded guilty on October 21, 2008.

According to court documents, in January 2007, an undercover law enforcement officer determined that Wiegand was offering child pornography on a peer-to- peer computer network for others to download. Officers executed a search warrant at Wiegand's home, at which time Wiegand admitted to knowingly receiving child pornography by downloading it from the internet to his computer and storing the child pornography on his computer and on external storage devices, including CDs, DVDs, and thumb drives. During the search, law enforcement agents seized Wiegand's computer and storage devices. Wiegand had more than 78 images and 64 videos of child pornography containing actual child victims, including images of children under the age of 12 engaging in a variety of sexual conduct.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda L. Riedel.