FORMER WILLIAMSPORT UNDERTAKER SENTENCED TO 78 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Martin C. Carlson, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that Eric C. Norton, age 37, a former undertaker from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States Judge James F. McClure, to a term of imprisonment for possession of child pornography. Judge McClure sentenced Norton to a 78-month term of imprisonment and further ordered that Norton serve a life term of supervised release.

According to Acting U.S. Attorney Carlson, in 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at Norton's residence as part of a nationwide child pornography operation. As a result of the search, agents found over 6,000 images of child pornography on the hard drive of Norton’s computer, as well as photographs of children that Norton had taken from bulletin boards of local churches while he was attending funeral services. Norton was indicted in February 2007.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Williamsport Resident Agency and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William C. Simmers as part of Project Safe Childhood.
In February 2006, the Department of Justice 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/.

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