Indiana Man Indicted and Arrested in Child Pornography Case

WASHINGTON – William Travis Brown, 37, of Georgetown, Ind., has been indicted by a federal grand jury on transportation and possession of child pornography charges, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Timothy M. Morrison and Indianapolis Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Resident Agent in Charge Daniel T. Dill announced today.

A grand jury in the Southern District of Indiana returned the indictment against Brown, unsealed today upon his arrest, on March 25, 2008. Brown is charged with 20 counts of transporting child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count of transporting child pornography, and a maximum of 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 per count. An indictment is merely a charge and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case against Brown is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D. DeBrota of the Southern District of Indiana and Trial Attorney Bonnie Kane of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). The investigation is being handled by ICE and CEOS’s High Tech Investigative Unit.