KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – On Jan. 17, 2017, Andrew Scott Conard, 30, of Knoxville, Tenn., was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas Varlan, Chief U.S. District Judge, to serve 188 months in federal prison. Additionally, upon his release from prison, he will be supervised by the U.S. Probation office for 15 years.

In June 2016, Conard pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography, which were charges contained in a federal indictment. In the plea agreement on file with the U.S. District Court, Conard admitted that he maintained a collection of child pornography on his computer, which he downloaded over the internet, and knowingly made available to other persons through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, with the anticipation of being able to obtain additional child pornography on the same file-sharing network.

In March 2014, an investigator with the Knoxville Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) downloaded a child pornography video from Conard’s computer over the internet, though the file sharing network set up by Conard. Federal investigators executed a warrant at Conard’s residence in May 2016 and seized his computer. A subsequent forensic examination of the computer revealed 91 images and 164 videos of child pornography, some of which contained known child victims.

This case was investigated by the Knoxville Police Department ICAC. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Dale 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, 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.