WAYNE COUNTY MAN CHARGED WITH RECEIVING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Martin C. Carlson, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging a Wayne County man with receiving child pornography.

Carlson stated that John Linnell, age 61, of Browndale, Pennsylvania, is charged with committing the offense between October 2007 and March 6, 2008.

Linnell’s arrest stems from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office.

Carlson stated that Linnell faces a five-year mandatory minimum sentence and up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charge.

Carlson noted that the investigation and prosecution of Linnell are part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

Carlson noted that Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.

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An Indictment or Information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Grand Jury and/or United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant has pled guilty to the charges.