PORT ST. LUCIE RESIDENT SENTENCED FOR RECEIPT OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY VIA THE INTERNET
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Robert L. Crowder, Sheriff, Martin County Sheriff’s Office, and Donald L. Shinnamon, Sr., Chief, Port St. Lucie Police Department, announced today’s sentencing of defendant Marc Dennis Vadnais, 44, of Port St. Lucie. United States District Court Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Vadnais to 240 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a life term of supervised release as a sex offender.
On May 7, 2010, Marc Dennis Vadnais pled guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2). According to the stipulated factual basis filed with the court in support of guilty plea, on November 3, 2009, a Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) detective conducted an Internet investigation into the trafficking of child pornography via Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks. During the investigation, the detective found 47 pictures and movie files depicting minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct being offered for download, via the internet, by an account holder. Further investigation confirmed that the account holder was defendant Vadnais.
According to the stipulated factual basis, on November 23, 2009, Martin County Sheriff’s Office and Port St. Lucie Police Department detectives, secured a search warrant for Vadnais’ residence and seized his computer. A subsequent forensic examination of Vadnais’ computer resulted in the discovery of approximately 60 movies depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. At the time of the search, the P2P software was in the sharing mode, which enabled any online user to download from the shared child pornography files on Vadnais’ computer. Another hard drive was located, which contained an additional 341 videos and images, including child pornography.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of Martin County Sheriff’s Office and Port St. Lucie Police Department for their work on this case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
