SCRANTON-The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that Lawrence Stone, age 63, of Scranton, was indicted on Nov. 13, 2018, by a federal grand jury on charges of production and transportation of child pornography. The case was unsealed following Stone’s arrest.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the grand jury alleges that Stone committed the production of child pornography offense between 2010 and 2014, and committed the transportation of child pornography offense on Sept. 3, 2018, in Lackawanna County. The indictment alleges that Stone persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, and later transported child pornography by using a means and facility of interstate commerce.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Scranton Police. Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.
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.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
The maximum penalty under federal law for the production of child pornography charge is 30 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. The maximum penalty for the transportation of child pornography charge is 20 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. There is also a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment for the production of child pornography charge, and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment for the transportation of child pornography charge. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
