MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO PRODUCTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

BUFFALO, N.Y.--David W. Evans, 48 of Buffalo, New York, pled guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to four felony charges of Production of Child Pornography, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced today. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a minimum penalty of 15 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release up to life.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that between December 2006 and November 2007, the defendant used the social networking website MySpace.com to meet four minor victims. After meeting these victims over the internet, the defendant would then obtain personal information about each victim, and in some instances, he would persuade the victims to take photos of themselves and send them to him. These four victims all sent the defendant sexually explicit photos. Sentencing is scheduled for December 23, 2008, at 12:30 p.m. EST, in Buffalo, N.Y., in front of Chief U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit.

The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), under the direction of Special Agent In Charge Laurie Bennett, and Detectives of the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief Christine Ziemba.