Press Release
United States Attorney James R. Dedrick
Eastern District of Tennessee
CONTACT: SHARRY DEDMAN-BEARD
PHONE: 865-545-4167
FAX: 865-545-4176
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
JOHNSON CITY MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
[JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE]— John K. Foster, II, age 23, of Johnson City, Tennessee, pled guilty on Monday, August 14, 2006, to count two of an indictment charging Foster with possession of child pornography. The guilty plea was accepted by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, United States District Judge, Greeneville, Tennessee.
Sentencing for Foster is scheduled for December 4, 2006. He has been detained since his arrest on the indictment on May 9, 2006, and will remain in custody without bond. The maximum penalty under count two is ten years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, up to a life term of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. There is no parole in the federal system.
The guilty plea was supported by the factual basis from the United States Attorney's Office as follows:
In May 2005, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) supplied information from their cyber tip line regarding a subject believed to be transmitting child pornography. The information revealed that a subject, later identified as John K. Foster, II, residing in Johnson City, Tennessee, was posting child pornography to the internet.
On July 26, 2005, a federal search warrant was executed at Foster’s residence in Johnson City. Foster admitted he had twenty-four compact discs containing images of a variety of child pornography. Foster admitted he had transmitted images of child pornography and has sent out links to child pornography sites to others.
Foster's computer was seized and was forensically examined by the Knoxville Police Department's Internet Crimes Againt ChildrenUnit. The examiner viewed images from the computer, compact discs and external hard drive. Foster possessed in excess of 17,500 images of child pornography and additional 535 videos of child pornography. The examiner also determined there were identified images and videos of children on the computers and compact discs. A number of these images are also on file with the NCMEC. Most of the images and videos were of prepubescent children with some being as young as infants. Additionally, there were sado-masochistic images of children saved on the computer and compact discs belonging to Foster.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Knoxville Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood.
For further information contact United States Attorney Russ Dedrick or Public Information Officer Sharry Dedman-Beard, at (865)545-4167, or Assistant U.S. Attorney Guy Blackwell at (423)639-6759.