April 15, 2010 - COLUMBUS—Henry B. Rutland, 65, of Westerville was sentenced in United States District Court here today to 12 months and one day in prison for subscribing to child pornography websites.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cincinnati Field Division (FBI), announced the sentence imposed today by Senior United States District Judge James L. Graham.
According to court documents, investigators in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia broke-up an international child pornography ring in 2008 where the perpetrators had established a series of websites selling access to images and videos of child pornography. Investigators found Rutland’s name and credit card information in company records.
FBI Task Force investigators obtained a search warrant for Rutland’s Westerville home, executed the warrant on August 20, 2009, questioned Rutland and seized his computer.
Initial forensic examination of Rutland’s desktop computer found approximately 200 images of child pornography, including images of nude prepubescent children engaging in oral sex with other children and adults.
Rutland pleaded guilty on November 15, 2009 to one count of knowingly accessing with intent to view child pornography. He also agreed to forfeit his computer and related storage media.
“Rutland was brought to justice only through extensive cooperation between the United States and international law enforcement agencies,” Stewart said. “Deterring, catching, and punishing this type of conduct is an effort which Congress has targeted with significant resources and legislation over the last several years because Congress has found that the materials and the offenders who view and possess them represent a unique danger to public safety.”
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.
Stewart commended the FBI task force officers who investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hunter, who prosecuted the case.
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