Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Online Predators Sentenced

Two men were sentenced on Monday in Federal Court on possession of child pornography charges. The federal prosecutions of Kenneth Mark Fisher, 46 and Charles Childers, 47 were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

Kenneth Mark Fisher (R) was indicted last March on charges of possession of child pornography. At the time of his arrest, Fisher lived in Charlotte and worked for US Airways. Court documents reveal Fisher was in possession of over 27,000 images and over 1,100 videos of child pornography. The children shown in the photos and videos are aged 3 to 11 years old depicted children engaging in sexual activity.

Undercover agents posed as child molesters and communicated online with Fisher in chat rooms called ‘Kiddypics’ and ‘Kiddyvids.’ He told the agents he molested a toddler, had ‘access’ to a seven year old girl and shared his photos and videos with undercover detectives. Kenneth Fisher was part of an international online child porn ring and maintained a secure site filled with child pornography.

Kenneth Fisher entered into a plea agreement last June and he was sentenced on April 23rd to seven years and three months in a federal penitentiary. When Fisher is released from jail, he will be on supervised release for 15 years.

Charles Childers (R) was indicted last January on charges of possession of child pornography. The indictment states Childers was in possession of books, magazines, films, video and other matter which contained minor engaging in sexual acts.

In addition to owning child pornography, Childers was charged with mailing, shipping and transporting the explicit material. Charles Childers was sentenced on April 23rd to six and a half years in federal prison. Childers will be on supervised release for ten years after he is released from jail.

Docs: 4/24 DOJ Press Release
* Fisher: Plea Agreement – Govt’s Request for Continuance
* Childers: Bill of InformationPlea Agreement