PITTSBURGH - An Allegheny County resident has been sentenced in federal court to 63 months imprisonment, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, on his conviction of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Terry Robert Cousins, Jr., 34, of Natrona Heights, Pa.
According to information presented to the court, in and around January of 2012, Cousins knowingly possessed videos and images in computer graphic files, the production of which involved the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, some of whom had not yet attained 12 years of age.
Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Allegheny County Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Cousins.
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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
