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NILS R. KESSLER
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2404

KENT COUNTY MAN SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS FOR
PRODUCING AND DISTRIBUTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2008 - GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – Adelbert Harold Warner, II, 37, of Wyoming, Michigan, was sentenced to concurrent terms of 30 years and 20 years imprisonment for producing and distributing images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, U.S. Attorney Charles R. Gross announced today.

At the sentencing, the Honorable Paul L. Maloney, U. S. District Judge, chastised Warner for sexually assaulting two young boys and trading pictures of them with other child sex predators over the Internet. The Judge noted Warner’s actions would likely cause a lifetime of psychological hardship for the victims, not least because photographs posted to the Internet “remain in cyberspace forever.” In sentencing the defendant to 30 years’ imprisonment, Judge Maloney expressed his desire to send a strong message of deterrence to anyone else who might consider producing or distributing child pornography.

In the fall of 2007, Warner entered an Internet “chat room,” and began a series of sexual conversations with a person he believed to be “Colin,” a 14-year old boy from New Hampshire. Warner encouraged the boy to explore homosexuality, and sent him a package containing undergarments, a digital camera and a compact disc filled with images of child pornography. Warner instructed the boy to take sexually explicit photographs of himself and e-mail them back to him. Unbeknownst to Warner, “Colin” was in fact an undercover detective from Keene, NH.

After receiving the package and determining Warner’s whereabouts, the case was referred to the Michigan State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In February of 2008, a search warrant was executed at Warner’s home, where additional child pornography was found on his computer. Warner confessed that he had in fact molested two Michigan boys (aged 12 and 15), and traded sexually explicit photographs of the boys to other individuals through peer-to-peer Internet file sharing. Judge Maloney called Warner’s conduct “egregious,” and ordered that after serving his 30-year sentence, Warner be supervised by the Court for the remainder of his life to ensure he never again has unsupervised contact with minors or access to the Internet.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, county prosecutor’s offices, Internet Crimes Against Children task force (ICAC), federal, state, and local law enforcement are working closely together to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children. The partners in Project Safe Childhood work to educate local communities about the dangers of online child exploitation, and to teach children how to protect themselves. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit the following web site: www.projectsafechildhood.gov.