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Producer of Child Pornography Sentenced to Spend 40 Years in Federal Prison, Followed by a Lifetime of Supervision

DENVER—Jeffrey Allan Mueller, age 39, of Douglas County, Colorado, was sentenced on October 4, 2012, by U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez to serve 480 months (40 years) in federal prison for five counts of production of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography, United States Attorney John Walsh and FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge James Yacone announced. Mueller, who appeared at the sentencing hearing in custody, was remanded immediately following the hearing.

Mueller was first arrested based on a criminal complaint, which was filed on July 26, 2011. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on August 16, 2011. He pled guilty to all counts included in the indictment on Monday, July 9, 2012. He was sentenced on October 4, 2012.

During the course of the prosecution, the government identified at least six additional producers of child pornography and were able to rescue approximately 35 additional child victims of ongoing sexual abuse who were depicted in images of child pornography. All of the children are now in a safe place. Also, at the time of Mueller’s arrest, agents and officers rescued a minor child Mueller was using to produce child pornography. The child has since been relocated and is also in a safe place.

According to publicly available facts, including information in the indictment, between September 2006 and December 2009, Mueller used a minor with the intent that the minor engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography and then transported that child pornography across state and international lines. The indictment alleges that Mueller produced over 50 images of child pornography on five separate occasions. Producing child pornography includes taking still photographs or video of children where the images depict those children in sexually explicit poses or activity.

The defendant agreed to the asset forfeiture allegation, which includes the forfeiture of digital media storage devices, computers, and cameras.

“Sexually abusing children to produce pornography is morally beyond the pale and, as this sentence justly reflects, subject to severe criminal punishment,” said U.S. Attorney John Walsh. “Thanks to the dedication of Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the FBI, 35 children have been rescued from this horror, and over six men producing these images have been removed from their communities.”

“The Innocent Images Task Force is committed to identifying sexual predators that prey on and victimize children,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge James Yacone. “Those who produce child pornography, often with their own children, are some of the most heinous offenders. We will continue to apply every enforcement and prosecutorial resource available to use and our law enforcement partners to protect these children and stop the continued victimization of the most innocent and vulnerable among us.”

This case was investigated by the Denver FBI Innocent Images Task Force. The Parker Police Department and the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office also participated and rendered assistance.

Mueller was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Smith, Chief of the Special Prosecutions Section, with assistant from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marty Paluch and Tonya Andrews regarding asset forfeiture matters.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit the website and click on the tab “Resources.”

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