United States Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of Virginia
Chuck Rosenberg - United States Attorney

ALEXANDRIA     NEWPORT NEWS      NORFOLK      RICHMOND

March 9, 2007

Further Information Contact:
Deanna Warren
Phone: (757) 441-6331

Tennessee Man Sentenced on Child Pornography Charge

(Norfolk, VA) – Robert Lester Adkison, age 33, of Tennessee, was sentenced today to 44 months in federal prison, followed by a three-year period of supervised release, on his conviction for possessing child pornography in violation of federal law. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Adkison was sentenced by United States District Judge Jerome B. Friedman. Adkison pled guilty to this charge on December 7, 2006.

According to court documents, Adkison’s ex-wife discovered child pornography on a computer at a residence they shared in Portsmouth in 2004 and 2005. Later she also found child pornography saved on several computer disks. After she reported this matter to law enforcement officials in Tennessee, they stopped Adkison and seized a computer from his vehicle that was found to have child pornography on its hard drive. Adkison subsequently made two statements to law enforcement officers admitting that he had found the child pornography images on the Internet and had saved them on the disks.

In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The investigation was conducted by the Memphis, Tennessee Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as state and local law enforcement officers. Assistant United States Attorney Michael C. Moore prosecuted the case for the United States.