U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation

100 W. Capitol Street
Suite 1553
Jackson, Mississippi 39269

Contact: Deborah Madden
(601) 948-5000

For Immediate Release
May 18, 2006

John G. Raucci, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Mississippi, and Dunn Lampton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, announced as follows:

On May 4, 2006, GERALD W. DENIS, age 50, of Johnson, Vermont, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Keith Starrett to 14 years in Federal Prison, followed by registration as a sex offender upon release and supervised release for life. On February 9, 2006, DENIS, had pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in child pornography. Child pornography is the depiction of a child under the age of eighteen engaged in sexually explicit behavior.

In April of 2005, the FBI was contacted by the Provost Marshal's Office at Camp Shelby. They had received information that GERALD W. DENIS, an Army National Guard sergeant training at Camp Shelby prior to overseas deployment, was transmitting child pornography over the Internet, via his personal laptop computer, to someone he believed to be a 14-year old girl. In fact, DENIS had sent images depicting child pornography, along with a photograph of himself in uniform, to an undercover police officer located in Ohio.

Following seizure of his laptop computer and analysis of its contents by the FBI, DENIS was indicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on two counts of transmission of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 2252A(a)(1), and one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, U.S.C., Section 2252A(a)(5)(A). The United States Attorney's Office, United States Marshal Service and the FBI, working in cooperation with the Provost Marshal at Camp Shelby, arrested DENIS on November 14, 2005. He was arraigned in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he later entered his guilty plea.

Possession of child pornography and its transmission via the Internet is not a "victimless crime." There is nothing mild or benign about child pornography. As United States Attorney General Roberto Gonzales has stated, "We need to get the public - as well as government officials - to start thinking about it in the right terms. It is brutal, it is heinous, and it is criminal." "The threat [of pedophiles preying on children online, or abusing kids and sending images of the abuse around the world through the Internet] is frighteningly real... it is growing rapidly, and it must be stopped.... According to one study, one child in every five is solicited online. 'Dateline' estimated that, at any given time, 50,000 predators are on the Internet prowling for children." In 2005, federal prosecutors charged 1,447 child exploitation cases involving child pornography, coercion and enticement offenses against 1,503 defendants.

Educating the public about the enticement threat is especially critical, because of the role parents, teachers and other influential adults can play in making sure children can use the Internet safely. In addition, through Project Safe Childhood, a Justice Department initiative aimed at combating the online exploitation and victimization of children, law enforcement at all levels will become more coordinated, better trained, and more involved.

Federal resources of the Justice Department are being utilized to ensure these criminals are found and kept away from our children. The FBI and the U. S. Attorney's Office are committed to the safety and well-being of every child, and have placed a high priority on combating the sexual exploitation of minors. One of the goals of Project Safe Childhood is to ensure that the worst offenders get the maximum amount of jail time possible. The statutory mandated minimum sentence for transmission of child pornography is 5 years. The prison sentence given DENIS, 14 years and a lifetime of supervised release, is evidence of the Department of Justice's commitment to meet this goal and to stem the surge in child exploitation and pornography.