Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—Cornelius Magee, 36, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pled guilty today to a federal charge of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Magee entered the guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Honorable Amy Berman Jackson is to sentence him on April 26, 2013. Magee faces a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment as well as a fine of $250,000. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he faces a likely sentencing range of 97 to 121 months in prison.

According to the government’s evidence, on October 24, 2012, Magee contacted a man he believed to be the father of a 12-year-old girl on a social network site. That man turned out to be an undercover officer with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force.

Over the next two days, Magee engaged in online e-mail and instant message conversations with the undercover officer. During this period of time, Magee sent the undercover officer two videos of child pornography which depicted adult men engaged in sexual acts with children. Following the defendant’s arrest on October 26, 2012, members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force conducted a search of Magee’s residence and found approximately 16 additional videos of child pornography on the defendant’s computer.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s 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.projectsafechildhoodgov.

In announcing the guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Machen, Assistant Director in Charge Parlave, and Chief Lanier praised the work of the MPD detectives and special agents of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. They also commended the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari Redbord, who is prosecuting the case.