Sean Widmer Sentenced for Receipt of Child Pornography

KNOXVILLE, TN—Sean Jay Widmer, 41, of Concord, Tenn., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, to serve 97 months in federal prison and supervised release for five years upon his release from prison. Widmer pleaded guilty on February 22, 2011, to an indictment charging him with receipt of child pornography. The sentencing was held before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Phillips.

Widmer came to the attention of law enforcement through an online investigation conducted by the Knoxville Police Department, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). A subsequent forensic examination found seven images and 134 videos of child pornography on his computer.

This conviction was the result of an investigation by the ICAC Units of the Knoxville Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank M. Dale, Jr. represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a Department initiative launched in 2006 that aims to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, tribal, 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 visit ProjectSafeChildhood.gov.