The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced  that Vernon Douglas Clowes pled guilty today to possessing a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct that had been shipped and transported in interstate or foreign commerce. 

Mr. Clowes, 48, of San Jose, CA, was indicted by a federal Grand Jury on April 14, 2004.  He was charged with one count of possessing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).  Under the plea agreement, Mr. Clowes pled guilty to that count.

In pleading guilty, Mr. Clowes admitted that on or about April 22, 2003, in San Jose, California, he knowingly possessed, on his home computer, over 1600 images of pornography, and that some of these depictions were of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Further, Mr. Clowes admitted that he had obtained those visual depictions by downloading them from various child pornography newsgroups, some of which he knew to have originated overseas; and that he had gained access to those newsgroups by paying to join a commercial website, "uncensorednews.com." 

Mr. Clowes also admitted that he had downloaded those visual depictions, knowing that they showed minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and knowing that the production of those visual depictions involved the use of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Finally, because all of the visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were  downloaded from commercial newsgroups on the Internet, and because many of the visual depictions were produced in other countries, Mr. Clowes acknowledged that at least one of the visual depictions had been transported in foreign and interstate commerce prior to coming into his possession in San Jose, California.

The sentencing of Mr. Clowes is scheduled for September 7, 2004, at 9:00 a.m., before Judge Ronald M. Whyte in San Jose.  The maximum statutory penalty for violation of the statute 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B) is 15 years of imprisonment, three years supervised release, $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.  However, any sentence following conviction would be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed in the discretion of the Court.

The prosecution is the result of a year-long investigation by the San Jose Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children ("ICAC") Task Force and Immigration & Customs Enforcement.  Shawna Yen is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of legal technician Tracey Andersen.