BANGOR, Maine — A Millinocket man pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to possession of child pornography.
Joshua Crawford, 24, admitted that he downloaded child pornography and viewed videos depicting children having sex with adults.
Crawford was arrested in June and released on his own recognizance with the condition that he wear an ankle bracelet. He pleaded not guilty in October after being indicted by a federal grand jury.
The investigation that led to Crawford’s arrest began in April 2010, when the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit received information that child pornography had been accessed by an account at the residence where Crawford lived with his mother and sister, according to court documents. When investigators interviewed Crawford, he admitted viewing child pornography “as a fetish.”
Investigators found more than 100 video files on Crawford’s computer that depicted the sexual abuse and exploitation of prepubescent boys and girls, according to court documents. In September 2010, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children confirmed that 19 of the videos included images of children identified in previous investigations, according to court documents.
Crawford faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
His sentencing date has not been set. Crawford will be held without bail in Maine until he is sentenced.
Do to the nature of the way child pornography works it almost always can be prosecuted as a federal crime. Much of it travels over state lines and thus includes such things as interstate communications and perpetrating of crimes over state lines. It is my belief that all child pornography crimes should be prosecuted on the federal level. Our state police department does a good job with investigating these crimes but they cant match up when it compares to the FBI, US Postal Service and ICE.
Children do not “have sex” with adults. Children are raped by adults. Period.
3 Years probation…Then in a few months we will be reading another article where he violated probation.
He will be sentenced pretty harshly in Federal Court. That is a good thing. Thats why in my opinion all child porn cases should be prosecuted as Federal Crimes. Violating Federal Probation is no joke and a guarantee to be doing at least another two years in prison.
These creeps are everywhere. An employee where I worked, left some damning evidence in a drawer in his desk, that was found by another employee. He had been viewing this stuff at work. Everyone liked this guy, and were surprised when the police took him to the police station. You never know who they are.
What is the matter with these idiots that enjoy looking at nude children. That is really sick. These guys deserve to be in a mental institution, not prison, for more than 10 years. Put them in there and throw the key away. Our society is full of these jerks. Maybe they were abused as children, who knows, but one thing for sure this type of behavior is very abnormal.
Theres a lot more sex offenders in millinocket .the athorities auta check the register more often