Rockville Man Found Guilty of Possessing Child Pornography

A Rockville man, caught in a federal sting operation targeting a child pornography-sharing Web site, has been found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore.

Charles Johnson, 70, downloaded 115 pages displaying child pornography on March 15-19, 2010, according to testimony during the three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

When authorities executed a search warrant, Johnson confessed to downloading the images, the government said. More than 300 images of child pornography were found on Johnson’s computer.

Witnesses testified that Johnson provided access to his email account, where authorities found dozens of emails in which “Johnson engaged in online chats and exchanged stories about the raping of children.”

Johnson faces a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, followed by up to lifetime of supervised release for the receipt of child pornography. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the possession of child pornography.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.

Johnson’s case was brought to trial as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by U.S. Attorneys' offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The program seeks to apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims.

Click here for more information on Project Safe Childhood, including resources for keeping children safe on the Internet.

The investigation of Johnson was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The initiative targets “sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers,” the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

ICE encourages anyone who suspects child predators or observes suspicious activity to call its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or contact its online tip line at http://www.ice.gov/exec/forms/hsi-tips/tips.asp.