KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On Aug. 14, 2014, Jonathan Mendheim, 35, of Indianapolis, Ind., was sentenced by the Honorable Leon Jordan, Senior U.S. District Judge, to serve 60 months in prison for receipt and possession of child pornography. Upon his release from prison he will be under supervised release for 20 years. Additionally, he was ordered to pay $3500 in restitution to the victims.

In January 2014, Mendheim pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Knoxville to these charges. Details of the crimes committed are outlined in the plea agreement on file with U.S. District Court.

This investigation was conducted by the Knoxville Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Knoxville and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman represented the United States.

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 Department of Justice. 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 via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.