SCRANTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.

SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 27-year-old Carbondale man pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick to using a computer to download child pornography from an internet website.

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the defendant, Edward Jeter, admitted to committing the offense between November 2014 and August 2015. Agents found more than 90 videos and more than 2,100 images of child pornography on Jeter’s computer, including images of children between the ages of 3 and 14.

Jeter was charged in a Criminal Information filed in November 2015, as a result of a nationwide investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Judge Mehalchick ordered a pre-sentence investigation to be completed. Senior U.S. District Court Judge Richard P. Conaboy will schedule a date for sentence.  Jeter faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.

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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit  www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit  www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

 

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