MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, a 29-year-old man was sentenced for possessing a videotape containing child pornography. United States District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle sentenced Delmarcus Deante Johnson, no known address, to 36 months in prison on one count of possession of child pornography. Johnson, who will also need to register as a sex offender, was indicted on March 22, 2011 and pleaded guilty on January 26, 2012.
In his plea agreement, Johnson admitted that in May 2010 he possessed the video, which depicted him having sex with a minor at a Minneapolis motel.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Brooklyn Center Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp.
Presently, the Justice Department is funding a study concerning the correlation between involvement in child pornography and the hands-on sexual abuse of children. A 2008 study (The Butner Study) published in the “Journal of Family Violence” found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.
The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to combating the sexual exploitation of children, particularly via the Internet. In fiscal year 2010, 2,235 defendants pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges, 2,222 of whom were sentenced to prison. In fiscal year 2009, 2,083 defendants were sentenced to prison on child pornography charges. For more information about these efforts, please visit the Department’s Project Safe Childhood website at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
