Orangevale Man Charged with Distribution of Child Pornography

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against Daniel Wayne Benner, 33, of Orangevale, charging him with distribution of child pornography, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, Benner distributed child pornography between July 3-5, using the Kik Messenger app. Benner used a smartphone, the internet, and Kik messenger to distribute a video and still images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct to a person located in Arkansas.

According to the criminal complaint, Benner’s publicly accessible Facebook profile includes a picture of a “My Little Pony” costume with a caption reading, “Rainbow Dash is looking to come to your birthday party and she brings candy and music … contact me for quotes / She will travel anywhere in Sacramento County.” Benner stated that he and two friends were going to start a birthday party business but were unable to secure any customers.

This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a federally and state-funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department with agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The Sacramento ICAC investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina McCall is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Daniel Benner faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and potentially a lifetime of supervised release. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about internet safety education.