Adairsville Man Pleads Guilty in Child Pornography Case

ERALD WAYNE ANDERSON, 63, of Adairsville, Georgia, pleaded guilty today before Senior United States District Judge Robert L. Vining, Jr. to one count of receipt of child pornography.

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the case, “This defendant posed as a young girl on the internet, one of many deceptions used by sexual predators who try to reach and exploit our children through the computers in our homes. Thanks to coordinated law enforcement work across state lines, this defendant is pleading guilty and faces a long sentence in federal prison.”

According to United States Attorney Nahmias, and other information presented in court: In October 2007, the defendant engaged in an internet chat with an undercover police officer from the Broward County (Florida) Sheriff's Office. The defendant was posing as a 13-year-old girl. Approximately within 3 minutes of beginning the chat, the defendant began discussing modeling pictures with the undercover officer. The defendant sent the undercover officer a number of photographs over the internet of a young girl (which the defendant was claiming to be) engaged in various poses. Many of the photographs showed the girl in nude poses.

In November 2007, an undercover police officer from the Bensalem (Pennsylvania) Police Department was chatting online, and the defendant contacted her, again posing as a 13-year-old girl, but this time with a different name. Again, the defendant sent over the internet a number of "modeling photographs," which included many of the same pictures sent the previous month.

The local police officers issued subpoenas for the defendant's e-mail addresses and learned that he resided in Adairsville, Georgia. The case was then referred to the FBI, and on February 19, 2008, law enforcement officers executing search warrants found thousands of images of child pornography kept in briefcases and meticulously organized and labeled. These images showed girls under the age of 12 engaging in sexually explicit conduct. After waiving his Miranda rights, the defendant admitted to receiving and collecting child pornography.

Sentencing for ANDERSON is set for October 9, 2008, at 10 a.m. before Judge Vining. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with invaluable assistance provided by the Broward County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office, and the Bensalem (Pennsylvania) Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Paul Jones is prosecuting the case.

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