1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

 

February 25, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vermont Resident Sentenced for
Attempted Transfer of Obscenity to a Minor

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA — A 46 year old Vermont resident was sentenced on February 24, 2009, in United States District Court in Martinsburg by Chief Judge John Preston Bailey.

United States Attorney Sharon L. Potter announced that JAMES W. GEORGE was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. GEORGE was convicted on November 20, 2008, after a two-day jury trial on six counts of attempted transfer of obscenity to a minor in Romney, Hampshire County, West Virginia. GEORGE attempted to transfer obscenity on November 5, 2007; December 31, 2007; January 16, 2008; February 1, 2008; February 18, 2008 and January 10, 2008, via computer and internet to a person whom he knew to be a 14-year old girl, but who was, in fact, an undercover law enforcement officer. GEORGE was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation to a federal institution.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David J. Perri. The case was a joint investigation conducted by the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

 

---