Todd Stumpf, Child Exploitation, Louisiana 2011

SHREVEPORT, La. - A sinister online network that preyed on innocent children has been dealt a severe blow with the sentencing of two more defendants.

Todd Stumpf, 61, of Buffalo, N.Y., was sentenced to 20 years in prison with five years of supervised release for engaging in a childhood exploitation enterprise.

According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Stumpf joined Dreamboard on January 19, 2008. He posted 1,042 posts and many contained child pornography.

This case is one of many that have resulted from Operation Delego, an ongoing investigation launched in December 2009 that targeted individuals around the world for their participation in Dreamboard. Dreamboard was a members-only bulletin board that was created and operated to promote pedophilia and encourage the sexual abuse of very young children in an environment designed to avoid law enforcement detection.

A total of 72 individuals, including Stumpf, have been charged as a result of Operation Delego. To date, 57 of the 72 charged defendants have been arrested in the United States and abroad. Forty-seven individuals have pleaded guilty, and one was convicted after trial.

Stumpf and another defendant, William Jewell, were charged in an indictment unsealed on August 3, 2011. Jewell, 44, of Burbank, Ill., was sentenced to 20 years in prison with a lifetime of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute child pornography.

According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Jewell joined Dreamboard on May 8, 2010. He posted 13 advertisements offering to distribute child pornography and five of the posts contained child pornography. He also posted six posts to another section of the site and some contained images of prepubescent children engaging in sexual activities.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the U.S. government. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Luke Walker of the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Keith Becker of CEOS. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance. The investigation was conducted by ICE-Homeland Security Investigations, the Child Exploitation Section of ICE’s Cyber Crime Center, CEOS, CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit and 35 ICE offices in the United States and 11 ICE attaches offices in 13 countries around the world, with assistance provided by numerous local and international law enforcement agencies across the globe.

Todd Stumpf, William Jewell, and the other defendants charged in Operation Delego face severe penalties for their heinous crimes. Their actions have resulted in the exploitation and abuse of countless children, and their sentencing serves as a reminder that those who engage in such activities will be brought to justice.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdla/pr/two-sentenced-involvement-international-criminal-network-sexually-exploited-children