Contact: Vickie E. Leduc of the U.S. Department of Justice,
410-209-4885; Web: http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MD
BALTIMORE, Feb. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- United States Attorney for the
District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein announced today that U.S. Dist-
rict Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced James A. Reigle, Jr., 46, of
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to life in prison in connection with his
December 8, 2005 conviction by a federal jury of sexually exploiting
minors to produce child pornography; conspiracy to transport, ship,
and possess child pornography; and transportation and shipment of
child pornography.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, "This case is
significant for two reasons. First, the arrest stemmed from a new law
enforcement initiative in which we take images of unknown adults from
photographs that show them engaging in sex with children, then we
broadcast the faces of the adults over the internet and on
television. We employ the same technology that child molesters use to
spread child pornography anonymously, but we use it to identify the
child molesters and catch them. Second, this is the first time that a
defendant has been sentenced to serve a mandatory sentence of life in
prison for repeated sex offenses against children, under the 'two
strikes and you're out' law enacted in 2003."
According to evidence established at trial, between 1998 and September
2002, Reigle developed relationships with several minor males and took
pictures of them engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Reigle, an avid
Internet user, developed a relationship with Thomas Evered, 39, of
Lolo, Montana, whom he met in a chat room. The two formed a close
friendship and traded pictures with each other from their child
pornography collection.
The evidence showed that in 2002, Reigle was sentenced by a U.S.
District Judge in Harrisburg, to a 37 month federal prison term for
possession of child pornography. That same year, a state judge in
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania sentenced Reigle to a concurrent sentence
for sexually molesting a Harrisburg boy.
Witnesses testified that shortly after he reported to federal prison
on September 23, 2002, Reigle contacted Evered and asked him to take
possession of his collection of child pornography until Reigle was released
from prison. Thereafter, Evered, who was a cross-country tractor trailer
driver, kept the collection with him at all times during his travels,
including two trips that took him through Maryland.
In a related case, Loren Williams, 45, of Edgewater, Maryland was
convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for production of child
pornography in Maryland. The photographs in his collection included
photographs produced and transmitted over the internet by Reigle.
Evidence presented to the court showed that Reigle has been convicted
on three previous occasions in Pennsylvania state courts of offenses
relating to the sexual molestation of children. His 2002 federal
conviction for possession of child pornography was his fourth
conviction for a child sexual exploitation offense.
On January 27, 2006 Evered was sentenced to 10 years in prison
followed by supervised release for life in connection with his
February 16, 2005 guilty plea to sexually exploiting a minor boy for
the purpose of producing child pornography.
FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Louis M. Reigel III, (no
relation to defendant) said, "The FBI, through our Innocent Images
Unit, is committed to aggressively pursuing individuals who engage in
the online sexual exploitation of children. In 2004, we established
the Endangered Child Alert Program (ECAP) along with our law
enforcement partners. Through ECAP and with the assistance of national
media outlets and their viewers worldwide, to date, we have been able
to identity and arrest five of the six "John Does" and one "Jane Doe"
we profiled."
"Mr. Reigle committed heinous acts of abuse against innocent children.
A sentence of life in prison will ensure that he cannot hurt another
child," said John Fox, Assistant Special Agent-In- Charge for ICE's
Office of Investigations in Baltimore. "Those of us in law enforcement
-- ICE agents, prosecutors and local officers -- share a commitment to
ensure that child pornographers won't find a safe haven in
cyberspace. We will use every available tool at our disposal to combat
violators such as Mr. Reigle."
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the
Baltimore Police Department for the investigative work they performed as
part of the Innocent Images Task Force. Mr. Rosenstein also commended
"America's Most Wanted" for the extraordinary assistance that program has
provided to law enforcement in this and many other cases.
Mr. Rosenstein praised Assistant United States Attornies Andrew G. W.
Norman and Jonathan Mastrangelo, who prosecuted the case.
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