Dover – Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that investigations by the Delaware Child Predator Task Force have resulted in a significant jail sentence for a Virginia man convicted of dealing in child pornography and the arrest of two Delaware men on child pornography charges.

            “Predators use technology to target and victimize kids right here in Delaware, across the nation, and beyond,” Biden said.  “However, these cases demonstrate that our Child Predator Task Force is equipped with the tools to help protect our kids by tracking them down, no matter where they are, and holding them accountable for their crimes.”

On Wednesday, January 16, Sean K. Smith, age 30, of Manassas, VA, pled guilty to two counts of Dealing in Child Pornography and was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Kent County Superior Court Judge William L. Witham, Jr.  Smith was arrested and extradited to Delaware last August following a Delaware Child Predator Task Force online undercover investigation that was initiated when a detective was contacted by a subject in an online chat room.  During multiple chat sessions the subject sent images of child pornography consisting primarily of images of infants and toddlers, including an image depicting a toddler being victimized by an adult male, and engaged in attempting to find children to victimize.  The investigation ultimately identified the subject as Smith, who was communicating from a location in Manassas, VA. 

Delaware detectives partnered with the Northern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force which executed a search warrant at Smith’s residence and seized computers and other digital evidence.  A forensic analysis of the evidence revealed multiple images of child pornography.  Delaware Task Force detectives obtained an arrest warrant and facilitated Smith’s arrest August 15, 2012 by Virginia authorities on 20 counts of dealing in child pornography.   Smith was extradited to Delaware, where he was arraigned and has been held in lieu of $1 million secured bail.

Review the August 17, 2012 release announcing Smith’s arrest at https://news.delaware.gov/2012/08/17/child-predator-task-force-arrests-virginia-man-for-dealing-child-pornography/.

            Biden also announced that a separate online undercover investigation into the dealing of child pornography resulted in the execution of a search warrant at a Wilmington residence yesterday, January 17, by members of the Child Predator Task Force, along with a uniformed State Police Trooper from Troop #6.  The investigation was initiated when undercover detectives obtained a video of child pornography online.  The file was traced to a residence in the 2300 block of Marilyn Drive, and a search warrant was secured for the premises.  There, detectives seized multiple computers and digital storage devices and took Thomas H. Fort, Jr., age 54, the sole occupant of the residence, to Troop #6 for further investigation.  A forensic preview of the evidence revealed multiple videos of child pornography and Fort was arrested and charged with 25 counts of dealing in child pornography.  He was arraigned via videophone by JP Court #2 and was ordered to be held in lieu of $750,000 cash bail.  In setting bail, the court gave consideration to the extensive collection of child pornography in the defendant’s possession and to his passport which indicated travel to several foreign locations known to be areas where subjects with an interest in children as sex objects travel.

Yesterday’s action follows another recent arrest by the Child Predator Task Force that resulted from an undercover investigation into the online distribution of child pornography.  During the course of that investigation, detectives obtained a video file containing child pornography from a subject who was traced to a residence on Fairway Road in Newark, DE.  Following additional investigation, detectives identified that person of interest. On January 11 the subject, Juan Miguel Mendez-Rosario, was contacted and taken to DSP Troop #6 for further investigation and a search warrant was executed at his residence, where detectives recovered a laptop computer and other digital evidence.  A forensic preview of the evidence revealed a video file of child pornography.  As a result, detectives arrested Mendez-Rosario, age 22, and charged him with two counts of dealing child pornography.  He was arraigned via videophone by JP Court #2 and was ordered to be held at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in lieu of $120,000 secured bail.

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