Iowa Man Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison on Child Pornography Charges

WASHINGTON – Geoffrey Golden, 57, of Pella, Iowa, was sentenced to 63 months in prison today by U.S. District Judge James Gritzner for possession of child pornography, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew G. Whitaker of the Southern District of Iowa announced today.

On Oct. 16, 2006, Geoffrey Golden was found guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in Des Moines of one count of possession of child pornography. The government’s evidence showed at trial that the defendant possessed images and videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct on a personal laptop computer. The defendant had subscribed to commercial Web sites and Internet newsgroups offering child pornography.

Judge Gritzner also ordered the defendant to serve five years of supervised release following Golden’s prison sentence. Golden was taken in to custody following the hearing.

This case was the result of a joint investigation of the local Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). Members of the ICAC included Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. The forensic examination of the computer evidence was conducted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Justice High Tech Investigative Unit.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.