Tampa, FL - U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich today sentenced Michael J. Charniak (50, Seminole) to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison for transporting and receiving child pornography over the Internet. Charniak was also ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release, following his incarceration, and to register as a sex offender. The sentence was imposed consecutive to the 15-year sentence Charniak is currently serving in the Florida Department of Corrections for a 2009 sexual battery conviction. Charniak pleaded guilty to the federal offense on Jan. 23, 2014.
According to court documents, Charniak traded numerous videos and images of child pornography from multiple email addresses between 2002 and 2009. In October 2009, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Charniak’s residence. During an interview, he confessed to downloading and transporting child pornography.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Peresie.
It is another 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
