St. Paul Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

A 57-year-old St. Paul man pleaded guilty last week in federal court to one count of possession of child pornography.

Timothy Allen Cain entered his plea before United States District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz July 18 in Minneapolis. Cain was indicted on Feb. 5.

According to Cain’s plea agreement, on Feb. 7, 2007, he knowingly possessed visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct that had been transmitted by a computer.

Cain faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Judge Schiltz will determine Cain’s sentence at a future date.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Ramsey County Correctional Office, the St. Paul Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Paul Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erika R. Mozangue.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a national initiative that encourages the use of multi-jurisdictional task forces to investigate and prosecute cases that involve the sexual exploitation of children over the Internet. PSC urges that law enforcement efforts be complemented by community-wide campaigns to assist victims of exploitation and to educate parents, other adults, and children about Internet safety.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, one in 33 children receives an unwanted sexual solicitation online each year. One in four children experiences unwanted exposure to sexually explicit material on the Internet each year. And, more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the Internet every week. Moreover, recent research conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons indicates a strong correlation between possessing or distributing child pornography and committing sexual-contact crimes against children.