FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 11, 2012
FORMER ROANE COUNTY SCHOOL EMPLOYEE SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Defendant’s brother gets two-and-a-half years in prison
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin today announced that a former computer technician for Roane County schools was sentenced to two years in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography. Adam K. Seen, age 25, worked as an information technology specialist for Roane County schools before his arrest in 2009. Seen’s brother, Jacob T. Seen, age 23, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. Both admitted that on December 3, 2009, they possessed more than 600 images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexual conduct. Jacob Seen admitted his collection included a video of a prepubescent minor involved in a sadistic or masochistic act or in sexual violence.
Jacob Seen also admitted he received and shared child pornography using a peer-to-peer file sharing program called LimeWire, which allows Internet users to download files from other people’s computers around the world. Peer-to-peer file sharing, which in the late 1990s became a popular way to share music files using programs such as Napster, has more recently become a common way to exchange child pornography.
“Crimes like this make me sick and they make me angry,” said U.S. Attorney Goodwin. “There’s no other way to say it. To get pleasure from the sexual abuse of children is one of the most disgusting and shameful things imaginable.
“As long as people keep downloading and sharing pictures like these, other people will keep exploiting children to create them,” Goodwin continued. “That’s why these cases are so important, and why my office works hard to see criminals like these locked up where they belong.”
The West Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Johnston handled the prosecution. United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. presided over the sentencings.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/wvs/PSCpage.html . For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and follow the link named “Resources.”
Click the links below to listen to audio sound bites from U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin regarding today’s hearing:
Goodwin part 1
Goodwin part 2
