Arizona Man Pleads Guilty to Mailing Child Pornography

WASHINGTON – Robert Restuch, 69, of Bullhead City, Ariz., pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of mailing child pornography, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Diane J. Humetewa announced. 

As part of his plea agreement, Restuch admitted that he entered a U.S. Post Office in Bullhead City and mailed a package that contained more than 600 images of child pornography, including images depicting children less than 12 years old.

Sentencing has been set for Oct. 19, 2009. At sentencing, Restuch will face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to 20 years in prison, as well as the possibility of lifetime supervised release. He will also face a fine of up to $250,000.

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 U.S. 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 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 Trial Attorney James Silver of CEOS, with assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vincent Q. Kirby, Sharon K. Sexton and Heather Nelson of the District of Arizona.  The U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation.