Sacramento man convicted of receiving child pornography

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Following a five-day trial, a federal jury returned a guilty verdict Friday against a 69-year-old Sacramento man charged with one count of receiving child pornography.

Albert Lee Mitchell, 69, was originally indicted in 2012 following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). According to the indictment, between April 16, 2012 and Nov. 5, 2012, Mitchell received images of child pornography via the internet.

According to evidence produced at trial, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Mitchell’s residence in November 2012 after law enforcement identified an IP address located there offering files of child pornography. At the time of the search, dozens of images of suspected child pornography were set to be downloaded to a file-sharing network on a computer located at the search site. Mitchell admitted to ownership of the computer and to being its sole user. A forensic review of the computer and other devices found in Mitchell’s home office revealed a collection of thousands of depictions of child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Audrey B. Hemesath and Josh F. Sigal are prosecuting the case.

After the jury announced its verdict, Mitchell was taken into custody as a danger to the community. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 28 by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller. Mitchell faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison. 

The case is a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.

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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.