United States Attorney James L. Santelle announced that Stephen J. Pax (age: 42), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was sentenced Friday morning by the Honorable Charles N. Clevert, Chief United States District Judge, to a term of imprisonment of 108 months. Pax pleaded guilty in October 2010 to distribution of child pornography. In addition to the 108-month prison term, Chief Judge Clevert also ordered a ten-year term of supervised release to follow Pax’s release from prison, with substantial restrictions on Pax’s future computer use and his access to minors. Pax will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Authorities had obtained search warrants for Pax’s home and office computers after it appeared Pax had uploaded images of child pornography to a photo-sharing website. Pax confessed to trading numerous images of child pornography over a 2-3 year period, with as many as 40-50 other individuals. Principally, Pax utilized “peer-to-peer” file-sharing software to trade child pornography, but he also traded via e-mail.

Chief Judge Clevert described the offense as serious, noting the age of many of the children depicted in the images (some were infants) and the very large number of images and movies involved in the crime.

This case was prosecuted in federal court as part of “Project Safe Childhood,” the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

United States Attorney James L. Santelle stated: “Our office, in cooperation with our local, federal and state law enforcement partners, continues to identify for prosecution those individuals who use electronic and other methods for disseminating pornographic images of children - our most vulnerable victims. Our Project Safe Child Initiative is designed to ensure the safety and security of our youth - and to address the criminal behaviors of people who compromise that and thus the well-being of our entire community.” Santelle also praised the work of the Milwaukee Police Department’s High Technology Unit in this case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan H. Koenig.

# # # # #

 

 

Return to Top