Cincinnati Man Sentenced to 210 Months in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

CINCINNATI—Anthony J. Graff, 49, of Cincinnati was sentenced in United States District Court here to 210 months in prison for receiving child pornography. He was also sentenced to serve the rest of his life under court supervision after his prison time. The maximum sentence he could have received was 240 months. Federal law will also require him to register as a sex offender.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, J. Mark Batts, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division (FBI), Dugan Wong, Dugan T. Wong, Assistant Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Brian Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations in Detroit announced the sentence handed down yesterday by Senior United States District Sandra S. Beckwith.

In 2006, Italian law enforcement authorities arrested an individual for producing and selling child pornographic videos. One of the customers of this website was identified as Graff. e-mail communications between the Italian target and Graff confirmed that Graff had been purchasing child pornography videos from early 2005 up through the fall of 2006. e-mails also revealed Graff had written a script and ordered a custom child pornography video from the Italian website, identifying the particular child he wanted to perform in the video. A search of Graff’s residence resulted in the seizure of numerous computer items, many of which contained child pornography. Some of the videos and/or images depicted children less than 12 years of age, and also included sadistic, masochistic or other violent acts.

Graff was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals following his sentencing hearing to immediately begin serving his sentence.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by FBI agents, Postal Inspectors and ICE agents, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy who prosecuted the case.