February 25, 2010 - CHICAGO—An Evanston man was arrested and charged today with transporting child pornography via computer after federal agents searched his home and found images of alleged child pornography on a computer in his residence. The defendant, Richard Mann, also known as “Rick Mann,” 53, of Evanston, was charged in a criminal complaint, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Mann maintains a public website that identifies him as an actor, voice-over artist, musician and music instructor, who works in area religious schools. The charges contain no allegations that he engaged in any sexual conduct with minors. He appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys in U.S. District Court and was ordered to remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
According to the complaint affidavit, Mann used the screen name “Spaniell,” to share files of child pornography with “friends” on a peer-to-peer network. An undercover FBI agent who was “friends” with Spaniell on the network allegedly browsed Spaniell’s shared directories and observed files containing alleged child pornography on Dec. 23, 2009, and again on Feb. 1 and 5, 2010. Some of the files were identified as being part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) “Dalmatian” series of identified victims.
FBI agents subsequently linked the shared files to an Internet account at Mann’s address, according to the affidavit. A preliminary review of a desktop computer found during the search of his residence today allegedly showed 24 gigabytes of files that contained child pornography. In addition, agents found multiple DVDs and CDs that contained at least hundreds of images and videos of minors, including adult men engaged in sexually explicit conduct with prepubescent boys, the complaint alleges.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher McFadden.
Transporting child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Upon conviction, the Court, however, would determine a reasonable sentence to impose considering the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment