Northern California man sentenced on child pornography charges

Fairfield, Calif. – A Solano County man was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that resulted in his conviction for possession of child pornography.

Charles Roy Clark, 59, of Fairfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb. According to court documents, an undercover federal agent began monitoring a website known for trading child pornography. During a visit to the "chat" portion of the website, the agent noticed that many of the users were uploading and trading child pornography images. Clark was identified as a suspect. Clark posted pornographic images while engaged in chat conversations with other users.

In October 2010, a search warrant was executed at Clark's residence in Fairfield. A computer seized during the search contained approximately 600 images and 22 videos of child pornography. At sentencing, one of the factors Judge Shubb considered was that there was evidence before the court that the defendant had previously molested two minor victims.

This defendant preyed on the most innocent and vulnerable members of our society — our children," said Clark Settles, special agent in charge of HSI San Francisco. Keeping children safe from sexual exploitation is a top priority for HSI. Our special agents will continue to use every tool at our disposal to investigate the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and bring them to justice."

This investigation is part of HSI's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children, and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, which was launched to increase federal prosecution of child sex predators, and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children including child pornography trafficking.

As part of Operation Predator, HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are 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.

As a part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney's Office has teamed with state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe Internet use, thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the Project Safe Childhood, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the Project Safe Childhood coordinator.