Carver Man Indicted for Producing Child Pornography

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, a 48-year-old Carver man was indicted for producing images of child pornography. Randy Davies Anderson was specifically charged with one count of production of child pornography. The indictment alleges that in January of 2011, Anderson induced and coerced a minor female child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct.

According to a Carver County criminal complaint, authorities learned about Anderson in July of 2011, during another child pornography investigation. Agents found two pornographic images on that subject’s computer that were sent from Anderson. On September 6, 2011, agents executed a search warrant at Anderson’s residence and seized computers and other related items, which were later found to have contained images of child pornography.

If convicted, Anderson faces a potential maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge. Anderson remains in custody.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Carver County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Cyber Crimes Task Force, which is sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp.

Presently, the Justice Department is funding a study concerning the correlation between involvement in child pornography and the hands-on sexual abuse of children. A 2008 study (The Butner Study) published in the Journal of Family Violence found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.

The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to combating the sexual exploitation of children, particularly via the Internet. In Fiscal Year 2010, 2,235 defendants pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges, 2,222 of whom were sentenced to prison. In Fiscal Year 2009, 2,083 defendants were sentenced to prison on child pornography charges. For more information about these efforts, please visit the Department’s Project Safe Childhood website, at projectsafechildhood.gov.