Delaware Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution of Child Pornography

A Wilmington, Delaware, man pleaded guilty today to one count of distribution of child pornography for his membership in a website dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III of the District of Delaware.

Roy Harvender Jr., 59, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Leonard P. Stark of the District of Delaware.  Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 1, 2017.

According to admissions made in connection with the plea agreement, the FBI identified Harvender during the investigation of an online bulletin board whose primary purpose was the advertisement and distribution of child pornography.  This website had a total of over 105,000 users and required its members to continually share child pornography in order to gain and keep membership.

Harvender admitted that he was an active member of this website for a period of several months in 2014 and made approximately 190 postings to the board, including images and videos of child pornography and links to images and videos of child pornography.  After identifying Harvender, agents executed a search warrant at his residence and found images of child pornography on electronic devices they seized.  Harvender was interviewed by FBI agents and admitted that he uploaded child pornography images to other users of the website and that he owned the devices that contained child pornography.   

The FBI’s Baltimore Division investigated the case.  Trial Attorney Herbrina D. Sanders of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmond Falgowski of the District of Delaware are prosecuting the case.