Matthew D. Krueger, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on Feb. 19, 2020, a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment against Kelly L. Turney (age: 23), of Zoar, on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The indictment charged Turney with Possession of Child Pornography in Indian Country, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252A.
If convicted, Turney faces up to ten years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. He also faces at least five years and up to a lifetime on supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
The Menominee Tribal Police Department, Wisconsin Department of Justice - Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Maier will prosecute the case.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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 U.S. Department of Justice.
Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)