SACRAMENTO, Calif. -Steven Vernon Roland, 44, formerly of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to receipt of child pornography, United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between Dec. 28, 2013 and March 19, 2014, Roland knowingly received over 28,000 images and 50 videos depicting child pornography. Roland was identified by law enforcement during an undercover investigation targeting use of peer-to-peer file sharing networks.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Amy Schuller Hitchcock is prosecuting the case.
Roland is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr. on Jan. 19, 2018. Roland faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
