Columbia, South Carolina ---- Acting United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Richard J. Probst, age 65, formerly of Columbia, South Carolina has entered a guilty plea in federal court in Columbia, to receiving child pornography that had traveled in foreign commerce by computer, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A. United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after she has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Probst had been collecting child pornography since 1986. Probst was caught when the German Federal Police reported to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that they had discovered a Peer to Peer Network that involved trading child pornography. The investigation revealed that Probst was one of the individuals receiving child pornography from the Network. Ms. Drake stated the maximum penalty for receiving child pornography is imprisonment for 20 years plus Supervised Release for life and/or a fine of $250,000.
The case was investigated by agents of the Department of Homeland Security and the German Federal Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney William E Day, II of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
