Marietta Man Sentenced to Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

JUSTIN CROY, 25, of Marietta, Georgia, was sentenced June 28 by United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. to serve six years in federal prison on a charge of receiving child pornography.

United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said of the case, “This defendant possessed a large collection of videos depicting the violent rape, molestation, and exploitation of the most vulnerable among us—our children. This office will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to prosecute those who choose to use the Internet to proliferate images of the violent sexual assault of children.”

CROY was sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. CROY was convicted of these charges by a federal jury on March 19, 2010, after a four-day trial.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: In January 2009, a detective with the Smyrna Police Department was conducting an online, undercover investigation regarding the sexual exploitation of children. During the investigation, the detective received information that someone residing at the defendant's residence was involved with child pornography. In March 2010, officers with the Cobb County Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit executed a search warrant at CROY's residence and recovered computer equipment that contained over 100 videos of prepubescent children, including infants and toddlers, being sexually assaulted.

The images recovered from CROY's computer equipment were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Victim Identification Program, where many of the children depicted in the images were determined to be known victims of child exploitation. The defendant’s child pornography collection included a video titled “The Pre Teen Toy Story” that provided step-by-step instructions on how to sexually assault infants and toddlers, including tips on how to avoid detection. CROY confessed to authorities that he had downloaded and repeatedly viewed the child pornography.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Cobb County Police Department and the Smyrna Police Department.

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