Steven Blaine Church Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

April 20, 2010 - GREENEVILLE, TN—Steven Blaine Church, 43, a resident of Greene County, Tennessee, was arrested Thursday, April 15, 2010, in Greeneville, by agents of the FBI after being indicted by a federal grand jury on April 13, 2010. The three-count indictment charged Church with the distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography. Church’s initial appearance was conducted on April 15, 2010, and his detention hearing was conducted on April 19, 2010. Church will remain in federal custody until his trial, which is scheduled for July 9, 2010.

Church faces a minimum five years and a maximum 20 years of in prison as to the distribution and receipt counts and a maximum 10 years in prison as to the possession count. Each count carries the potential for supervised release for life, forfeiture of the instrumentalities of the offense, fines up to $250,000, and $100 special assessments.

Members of the public are reminded that these are only charges and that every person is presumed innocent until their guilt has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.