WILMINGTON, Del. - U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss announced that John B. Alwood, 54, of Lewes, Delaware, was sentenced today to 40 months in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Leonard P. Stark of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
Based on documents filed and statements made in open court, Alwood, co-owner of the Lewes Daily Market, in Lewis, Delaware, gained sexual gratification from viewing child pornography several hours a day, every day, for ten years. Alwood did so using internet software that allowed him to view and masturbate to child pornography, all the while communicating with other pedophiles doing the same thing. The pornographic videos playing in these live-stream child pornography groups included, but were not limited to, the rape of prepubescent children.
U.S. Attorney Weiss said about the sentencing, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware is committed to protecting the most vulnerable among us - our children - from the abhorrent shadow industry that produces, distributes, and collects child pornography and from those who lurk in its base marketplace."
“HSI special agents remain committed to targeting and arresting child predators engaged in this terrible crime," said Marlon V. Miller, special agent in charge of HSI Philadelphia. “We owe it to the young victims to make certain that these offenders pay a high price for their wrongdoings."
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations within the federal Department of Homeland Security. Assistant U.S. Attorney Graham Robinson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as 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
