British citizen pleads guilty to child exploitation charge

HONOLULU – A British national pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one count of producing child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and several other law enforcement agencies.

Simon Jasper McCarty, 39, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright. McCarty admitted that between 2005 and 2007, he molested three different prepubescent boys outside of the United States and produced videos of the molestation.

McCarty was apprehended on Aug. 5, 2008, when he attempted to fly from Hawaii to Oahu with computer media that contained child pornography. A forensics examination of the media revealed approximately 400 still images and nearly 200 videos of child pornography. Approximately 60 of the videos featured the three minors who were molested by McCarty. McCarty brought the computer media with him when he flew from the United Kingdom to Oahu on July 28, 2008.

McCarty is scheduled to be sentenced on June 12. At sentencing, McCarty will face a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to a lifetime term of supervised release and an order of restitution.

The case was brought as part of ICE's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children, and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

As part of Operation Predator, ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or its online tip form. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Olson of the District of Hawaii and Assistant Deputy Chief Alexandra Gelber and Trial Attorney Mi Yung Park of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). The case was investigated by the Honolulu Office of ICE HSI, the Hawaii County Police Department, the Hawaii Department of Transportation, the Transportation and Security Administration and the CEOS' High Technology Investigative Unit.