Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Atlanta Man Gets 10 Years in Child Porn Case

Terrill Marion Crane, 47, of Atlanta has been sentenced to serve more than 10 years in federal prison for producing child pornography.

Crane was sentenced to 10 years, 1 month in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the charge of producing child pornography on Jan. 22.

According to the information presented in court, beginning in 1999, Crane approached numerous young girls in the Atlanta area and attempted to solicit them for sexual favors in exchange for cash.

In most cases, Crane took photos or directed photos to be taken of the sexual activity. In 2003, Crane's wife, who was then a sergeant with the Atlanta Police Department, got a call from an unidentified person at APD Headquarters advising that APD had photographs of her husband in the sexual activity.

Crane's wife said she found and burned some of the photographs. Even after that, Crane’s sexual activity with young females, continued. In October 2007, APD officers advised the FBI of photographic evidence involving 11 girls, most of them middle school age, which had been provided to APD by a film development store in 2000.

After the FBI agents began investigating the case, and with the assistance of the APD, on Nov. 20, 2007, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant for Crane's Atlanta residence on Beecher Road. Agents found undeveloped film, including some from disposable cameras, later shown to be Crane engaged in sexual activity with the girls, including two additional girls, and nude photos of some of the girls alone. Some of the girls in the photos found at Crane's residence have still not been identified.

Crane claimed to agents that some of the girls in the photographs were 20 years old, but several of the identified victims were minors at the time of the sexual activity and photographs and others appear to be minors.

Some of the photos depicting young girls seized from Crane's residence are identical to some of the photographs initially provided to APD in 2000.

No comments: