Hagerstown Man Sentenced for Distribution of Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland—U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Levi Matthew Chambers, age 27, of Hagerstown, Maryland, today to five years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for distribution of child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to his plea agreement, on March 28, 2008, an FBI Task Force Officer, working in an undercover capacity, accessed the internet using a file sharing program. The task force officer used a search term which would bring up files that had that term in the title and were likely to contain child pornography. The search results indicated that a specific IP address was sharing files associated with that term and the task force officer downloaded six files, two of which documented the sexual abuse of prepubescent females.

The IP address was determined to be used by a computer at Chambers’ residence. A federal search warrant was executed at his residence on August 28, 2008. During an interview with the FBI, Chambers admitted to using a file sharing program to search for child pornography on the Internet and advised the investigating agents that his computer contained images documenting the sexual abuse of 10-year-old children.

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 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 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. 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 Washington County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.

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