FOR FURTHERINFORMATION CONTACT

AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or

MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885  
MARCH 10, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                  

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md                                       

ST. MARY’S COUNTY MAN SENTENCED FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Greenbelt, Maryland—U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Andrew Vincent Mattingly, age 29, of Saint Inigoes, Maryland, today to 18 months in prison followed by supervised release for life for possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. A condition of his supervised release is that Mattingly will not be allowed to use computers without prior permission.

According to his plea agreement, in 2004 FBI agents in Detroit, Michigan searched a residence of a person who charged users to view a child pornography website that he created. The individual used an on-line payment service to collect the payments. FBI agents determined that Mattingly had paid to access the illegal website.

On February 2, 2005, FBI agents interviewed Mattingly who admitted to downloading images of child pornography and using a payment service to subscribe to illegal child pornography websites that contained images of children eight years and older. Mattingly admitted that between 10 and 150 images of child pornography were on his computer, including images of children under 12 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit <file://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/. Details about Maryland’s program are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department for their investigative work, and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Sartori, who prosecuted the case.