How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Western North Carolina -- December 14, 2022: According to Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, the administrator of an online chat room
devoted to the trafficking of child pornography has been given a 22-year prison sentence. After his release from jail, Dakota Ray Maddy, 33, of Lenoir, North Carolina, will also be subject to a lifetime of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.
Together with U.S. Attorney King, Michael C. Scherck, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Charlotte Division, makes the announcement December 6, 2022.
“As the overseer of this vile group chat that existed for the sole purpose of trading videos and images depicting the sexual abuse of children, Maddy played an integral role in perpetuating the sexual exploitation of children online. I commend the FBI agents and federal prosecutors who worked together to bring this monster to justice,” said U.S. Attorney King.
In June 2019, an FBI agent operating undercover discovered an online group chat where child pornography was being traded, according to court records and submitted documents. The FBI determined Maddy to be the group administrator during the course of the investigation. According to court records, Maddy was in control of adding and removing users from the group chat and demanded that they actively transmit child pornography to avoid being kicked off. Maddy disseminated child porn in the group chat and made invitations for others to provide him child porn in addition to his administrative responsibilities. These files were subjected to forensic analysis, which revealed that Maddy had transmitted a sizable quantity of child porn.
Maddy pled guilty to promoting videos and photographs of children being sexually abused on June 14, 2022. He is currently being held by the federal government, and when a federal institution is designated, he will be moved into the care of the federal Bureau of Prisons.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark T. Odulio of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte.
The Department of Justice announced Project Safe Childhood, a national attempt to tackle the scourge of child sexual exploitation and abuse, in May 2006. This case is a component of that program. Project Safe Childhood, spearheaded by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the Criminal Division, mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to better identify, apprehend, and prosecute those who exploit children online as well as to identify and rescue victims. Visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov for additional details about Project Safe Childhood.
WNCTIMES by Marjorie Farrington
