FRESNO, Calif. - United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Gary Edward Collins, 46, of Ceres, to eight years and one month in prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, for receipt of child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Ceres will be required to register as a sex offender and his access to minors, computers, and the Internet will be restricted.
Collins was indicted on Jan. 13, 2013 and pleaded guilty on Nov. 18, 2013. He was remanded into custody on Sept. 10, 2013, after a judge found that he violated the conditions of his pretrial release. Collins admitted in a plea agreement that between April 11, 2011, and May 12, 2012, in Stanislaus County he received at least 600 images of child pornography. Many of the images depicted prepubescent minors and some involved violence or sadistic or masochistic conduct or abuse.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Ceres Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney David Gappa 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.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources" tab for information about Internet safety education.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
