PITTSBURGH - A Westmoreland County resident has been sentenced in federal court to 228 months imprisonment, followed by lifetime supervised release, on his conviction of production of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence yesterday on Thomas Deglau, 56, formerly of Latrobe, Pa.
According to information presented to the court, the court was advised that on dates from on or about January 2012 to January 2014, Deglau employed, used, persuaded, induced, enticed, and coerced a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the sexual exploitation of the minors.
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 Pennsylvania State Police for conducting the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Deglau.
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
