Montgomery County Man Charged with Distribution of Child Pornography

INDIANAPOLIS—Philip R. Collins, 47, Crawfordsville, Ind., was charged today with both distribution and possession of child pornography, following an investigation by the Indiana State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The charging document alleges that on March 4, 2010, Collins distributed child pornography by means of a computer in interstate commerce, and that he also possessed child pornography. Collins purportedly began communicating online with an undercover law enforcement officer in August, 2009, after two more communications, Collins allegedly distributed 14 images of child pornography to the undercover officer. Law enforcement officers identified Collins, confronted him, and purportedly found additional images of child pornography on a thumb drive connected to his desktop computer.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Brant Cook, who is prosecuting the case for the government, Collins faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the distribution count and a maximum $250,000 fine. Collins faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on the possession count and a $250,000 fine. An initial hearing will be scheduled before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.

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.

An Information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.