LAS VEGAS - - A Nevada lawyer pleaded guilty today on charges that he received child pornography on his office computer in Las Vegas and at his residence in Maryland, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

DAVID CLARK WHITTEMORE, age 51, of Las Vegas, entered his guilty plea this afternoon to one count of receipt of child pornography. The maximum penalty for the charge is not less than five years and not more than 10 years imprisonment, and a $250,000 fine.

“Between January 1, 2002, and February 24, 2006, 133 defendants have been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Nevada with federal sex crimes against children,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “These crimes are among the top prosecution priorities of the United States Department of Justice, and include receipt and possession of child pornography, interstate travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile, and using a computer to entice a juvenile to have sex. Most of the defendants charged have been convicted and sentenced to significant periods of imprisonment.”

According to the guilty plea memorandum, on April 13, 2005, WHITTEMORE was interviewed by Nevada Gaming Investigators in connection with his gaming license application. WHITTEMORE told investigators that he accessed pornography websites on the Internet that were “probably illegal.” He said he had an interest in viewing pornographic images of young teenage girls, and that he printed the images for “sexual gratification.” WHITTEMORE reported that he primarily utilized a computer located in his office at 300 S. 4 Street, in Las Vegas, but that he also had another computer at his residence in Accident, Maryland. He stated he did not possess a computer at his residence in Las Vegas, because he did not want to be tempted to access child pornography.

The Plea Memorandum states that on April 15, 2005, members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) examined the hard drive of DAVID WHITTEMORE’s computer at his office in Las Vegas and found numerous images of child pornography that WHITTEMORE had received over the Internet. Investigators also found information on the computer concerning WHITTEMORE’s
involvement in a 2001 child pornography investigation, and an incident in 2002, in which WHITTEMORE had been disciplined at work for using his work computer to receive child pornography images. Investigators also recovered and searched the defendant’s computer hard drive at his home in Maryland, and determined that he had received numerous images of child pornography on that computer
as well. In total, WHITTEMORE received between 300 and 600 images of child pornography.

MR. WHITTEMORE is released on bond pending sentencing, scheduled for May 19, 2006, before U.S. District Judge Roger L. Hunt.
This case is being investigated by the ICAC Task Force. Its members include the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and FBI. ICAC Task Forces are federally funded through the U.S. Department of Justice and are designed to help state and local law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to cyber enticement and child pornography cases. The case is being prosecuted by
Assistant United States Attorney Nancy J. Koppe.

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