Luzerne County Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving and Distributing Child Pornography

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 35-year-old Nanticoke resident pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo to receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, John Dudkiewicz admitted that he used a computer to download images of child pornography during October 2009.

The charge against Dudkiewicz resulted from an investigation by the FBI; the Taney County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office; and Scranton Police.

Dudkiewicz faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Judge Caputo scheduled sentencing for January 5, 2011.

U.S. Attorney Smith noted that 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.

U.S. Attorney Smith noted that the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.