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

HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that John B. Snow, age 26, of Manchester, Pennsylvania, was indicted on October 31, 2018, by a federal grand jury on child exploitation charges and the offense of personation of a federal official, specifically a Deputy U.S. Marshal.  The indictment was unsealed following Snow’s initial appearance. Snow was temporarily detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for November 16, 2018.

According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, the indictment alleges that between January 2017 and April 2017, Snow impersonated a Deputy U.S. Marshal and claimed he was running a training program for the U.S. Marshals Service in the York, Pennsylvania area.  The indictment also alleges between February 18 and 24, 2017, Snow used a minor to produce sexually explicit images and between January 2017 and April 2017, coerced a sixteen-year-old minor online to engage in other sex acts.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Northern York County Regional Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith A. Taylor 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.

The maximum penalty under federal law for these offenses is lifetime imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. 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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