Related Federal Cases
- James Robert Gilmore, Jr. Sentenced to 28 Months for Possessing Chi… · Pennsylvania
- James K. Kiyabu, Sexually Exploiting a Minor, Oahu HI, 2024 · Tennessee
- Christopher Helmick, CSAM Distribution and Possession, Youngstown O… · Ohio
- Mark Beres, Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography, PA, 2023 · Pennsylvania
- Lisa A. Renze, Child Exploitation, Pittsburgh PA, 2023 · Indiana
James Smelko Sentenced to 14 Years for Possessing CSAM, Pittsburgh PA, 2024
A Pennsylvania man was sentenced yesterday to 14 years and seven months in prison for possessing deepfake child sexual abuse material (CSAM) depicting numerous child celebrities.
James Smelko, 57, of Pittsburgh, was convicted of one count of possessing child pornography and one count of accessing with the intent to view child pornography after a federal jury in Pittsburgh returned guilty verdicts in November 2023.
Smelko was found to have accessed such images on two separate occasions, with law enforcement discovering the pictures during a search of Smelko’s computer. He was charged with possessing CSAM and, while pending trial, he was found to have violated his conditions of pretrial release by accessing the images again after incriminating web searches and images were detected by court-mandated monitoring software installed on his cell phone.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek of the FBI Pittsburgh Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office investigated the case, with Trial Attorney Gwendelynn Bills of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Mitchell for the Western District of Pennsylvania prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department.
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
