Pennsylvania man sentenced for producing child pornography

HARRISBURG, Pa. – A Pennsylvania man was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison for production of child pornography. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jonathan Binns, 38, of Shenandoah, Pa., was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term and will be required to undergo sex offender treatment and register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school. Binns was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2011 following his arrest by the Pennsylvania State Police.

According to court documents, Binns previously admitted that he took sexually explicit photographs and videos of two minor children in 2010, uploaded the child pornography to a computer and maintained the images on a thumb drive.

"Possession of child pornography is not a victimless crime. It is serious, with lasting consequences," said John P. Kelleghan, special agent in charge of HSI Philadelphia. "Today's sentencing underscores the fact that HSI and our law enforcement partners will use every means at our disposal to track down those who engage in this behavior and stop them in their tracks."

HSI was assisted in the investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police Northeast Computer Crimes Unit, detectives from the Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office, the Schuylkill County District Attorney's Office and the FBI.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678.