ERIE, Pa. - A former resident of Ridgway, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 23 years in jail, lifetime supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,396 on his conviction of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.
United States District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter imposed the sentence on Jesse Porter, 42.
According to information presented to the court, Porter took sexually explicit photos and video of two minor victims. One victim was three years of age when Porter recorded himself sexually abusing her. The other victim was 15 when Porter took sexually explicit surreptitious video of her.
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 (CEOS), 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.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Baxter stated that the defendant’s acts were horrific.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Brady commended the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Ridgway Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Porter.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
