MUNCIE MAN CHARGED WITH DISTRIBUTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that AARON B. HUDDLESTON, 22, Muncie, Indiana, was charged today with distributing child pornography, following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, both Muncie, Indiana, and Calverton, Maryland, and Indiana State Police. 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 the 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 http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The information alleges that HUDDLESTON distributed child pornography images on both September 15 and September 16, 2008. On September 15, 2008, HUDDLESTON transported 17 video files and on September 16, 2008, HUDDLESTON transported 305 computer files. The files had child oriented sexually explicit names. The information also puts HUDDLESTON on notice that several pieces of computer media will be forfeited at the conclusion of the case.

According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Gayle L. Helart, who is prosecuting the case for the government, HUDDLESTON faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 20 years and a maximum possible fine of $250,000. An initial hearing will be scheduled before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Indianapolis, Indiana.