Delaware man sentenced to 5 years in prison for possessing child pornography

WILMINGTON, Del. - A man from Milford, Del. was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for attempted receipt of child pornography, following an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Eric Wayne Tindall, 51, originally came to the attention of ICE HSI in the summer of 2010 while agents investigated a commercial child pornography website. Tindall later responded to a fake advertisement created by law enforcement agents, which offered to sell child pornography movies. Tindall was subsequently arrested at his home on June 24, 2010 after he accepted delivery of a package that he believed contained child pornography videos. He also asked if he could special order child pornography movies featuring "3- to 4-year-olds," and movies with "young black girls."

Following a search of his Milford residence, ICE HSI agents seized Tindall's computer equipment, various videotapes and still photographs. An analysis of those items revealed that Tindall had been surreptitiously taping young children at public events and places, including playgrounds, parks, figure skating and dance events. Tindall also was found to have taken suggestive photographs of children under his supervision.

"Sexually exploiting children is a crime that has traumatic effects on the most vulnerable members of society," said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Philadelphia. "HSI and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively investigate child predators who seek to sexually exploit children."

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.