Department of Justice Seal Department of Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2005
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
CRM
(202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888

WASHINGTON, D.C. MAN CHARGED WITH HIGH-TECH DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY


WASHINGTON, D.C. - Acting Assistant Attorney General John C. Richter of the Criminal Division and Kenneth L. Wainstein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced today that a Washington, D.C. man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 11 child pornography charges.

Bruce A. Schiffer, 34, of Washington, D.C., was charged in the indictment returned June 9, 2005 by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia. Schiffer was arraigned today at U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., before U.S. Magistrate John M. Facciola.

The indictment was the result of an investigation by the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police and the High Tech Investigative Unit of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section at the Criminal Division. The indictment charges Schiffer with one count of advertising child pornography, six counts of transporting child pornography, three counts of receiving child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography.

The indictment alleges that Schiffer advertised, transported, received and possessed the child pornography that forms the basis for the charges by operating his personal computer as a file server, which allowed selected files to be downloaded by the public and allowed the public to upload files to that computer, and by advertising on specified Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels a willingness to receive or distribute files. Schiffer allegedly advertised his file server on the “100%preteenboysexpics” IRC channel, making available to the public a collection of approximately 11,000 image and movie files of child pornography and erotic depictions of children over the course of about five months from beginning on or about Sept. 1, 2004 and continuing until on or about Jan.14, 2005.

The child pornography involved is alleged to have been produced through the use of actual minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct and the material was allegedly visual depictions of such conduct.

If convicted, Schiffer faces a 15-year mandatory minimum and a 30-year mandatory maximum sentence for advertising child pornography and a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for transporting and receiving. The government is seeking the forfeiture of the computer equipment allegedly used to commit these crimes.

The charges contained in this indictment are allegations only and the defendant is presumed innocent until convicted at trial.

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