Luzerne County Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Offense

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 27-year-old Sugarloaf resident was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison yesterday by Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo for downloading and distributing images of child pornography.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Bradley C. Hoppy was sentenced to serve 125 months in prison. Hoppy previously admitted to committing the offense during September 2008 to October 30, 2009.

Hoppy was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2010, as a result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Suffolk County, New York Police Department.

Judge Caputo also ordered that Hoppy be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life following his release from prison. Hoppy must also pay a special assessment of $100 and must comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Judge Caputo also ordered Hoppy to forfeit to the United States three computers and two thumb drives that were used to commit the offense.

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.

U.S. Attorney Smith noted that the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.