Delano Unified School Technology Employee Sentenced for Sexual Exploitation of Minor

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Lonny Ray Haycock, 31, of Bakersfield, today to 24 years and three months in prison for the sexual exploitation of a minor for producing images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Following his release from prison, Haycock will serve 20 years of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender for life.

According to court documents, on August 21, 2010, Haycock knowingly used a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography. Haycock, a former information technology specialist with the Delano Joint Unified School District, used the Internet to transmit the images of child pornography. The minor used in the production of the sexually explicit images was under the age of 12 years.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri prosecuted the case.

The prosecution is 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 or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak to the PSC Coordinator.