Orlando, Florida - U.S. District Judge Charlene Honeywell yesterday sentenced James R. Wiese (49, Apopka) to 9 years and 7 months in federal prison for distribution and possession of child pornography. The court also ordered Wiese to serve a 10-year term of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence, and to register as a sex offender. Wiese pleaded guilty on May 29, 2013.
According to court documents, Wiese traded child pornography with others via email. As part of an undercover investigation, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Wiese's residence on Feb. 25, 2013, and seized all of Wiese’s computer equipment. When confronted by law enforcement officers, Wiese admitted to having collected child pornography images and videos, and storing them on his computer for at least two years. A forensic examination of Wiese’s computer equipment found more than 3,800 images and 1,150 videos depicting child pornography involving prepubescent children.
“Child pornography, when it is released onto the Internet, lives on forever. It haunts the children depicted in it, who live daily with the knowledge that countless strangers use an image of their worst experiences for their own gratification," said Shane Folden, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa, which oversees the agency’s Orlando office that conducted this investigation. “It is our duty as special agents to find and arrest these child predators and ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Orlando. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Myrna Amelia Mesa.
It is another case 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 (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
