密西西比男子被联邦陪审团定罪：多年共谋在Instagram与Telegram上牟利分发儿童性虐待材料
美国司法部10月14日宣布，密西西比州麦科姆（McComb）57岁的戴维·普伦克（David Plunk）在宾夕法尼亚州西区联邦地区法院受审四天后，被联邦陪审团认定其共谋分发和接收儿童性虐待材料（CSAM）并以牟利为目的、共谋制作虚假陈述两项罪名成立。该案由美国检察官办公室通报，陪审团于10月9日在匹兹堡作出有罪裁决。
根据检方在审判中出示的证据，普伦克与其他共谋者在数年时间里，通过 Instagram 和 Telegram 等社交媒体平台出售和交换数以百计的儿童性虐待材料，并牟利超过57,000美元。
联邦检察官斯蒂芬·R·考夫曼（Stephen R. Kaufman）表示："戴维·普伦克与他的同伙在社交媒体上出售儿童性剥削材料并牟取数万美元利润，太长时间以来对他人的痛苦视而不见而获利。这起检控应该让其他潜在的掠夺者明白，我们绝不容忍针对儿童的性剥削。"
负责此案的助理检察官包括助理联邦检察官瑞贝卡·L·西尔瓦斯和斯蒂芬·P·豪威尔，以及司法部刑事司儿童剥削与淫秽科审判律师艾丽莎·舒尔曼。国土安全调查局（HSI）和宾夕法尼亚州警察局对本案进行了调查。
法院定于2027年1月26日上午11时对普伦克量刑。司法部同时披露，普伦克曾于2016年在宾夕法尼亚州西区因接收和持有儿童色情制品被定罪，获刑50个月监禁。
Mississippi Man Convicted by Federal Jury of Conspiring to Distribute Child Sexual Abuse Material for Profit on Instagram and Telegram
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 14 that David Plunk, 57, of McComb, Mississippi, was convicted by a federal jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania after a four-day trial of conspiring to distribute and receive child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for pecuniary gain, and of conspiracy to make a false statement. The jury returned the guilty verdict on October 9 in Pittsburgh.
According to evidence presented at trial, Plunk and his co-conspirators used social media platforms including Instagram and Telegram, over the course of multiple years, to sell and trade hundreds of files of child sexual abuse material, profiting by more than $57,000.
"David Plunk, along with his co-conspirators, sold child sexual exploitation material on social media, making tens of thousands of dollars while turning a blind eye to the suffering of others for far too long," said Acting United States Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman. "This prosecution should be a lesson to other potential predators that we will not tolerate the sexual exploitation of children."
Assistant United States Attorneys Rebecca L. Silvaz and Stephen P. Howell and Trial Attorney Alyssa Shuman of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 26, 2027, at 11:00 a.m. The Department also disclosed that Plunk was previously convicted in the Western District of Pennsylvania in 2016 of receiving and possessing child pornography, for which he was sentenced to 50 months in prison.
图片来源：位于匹兹堡的约瑟夫·F·韦斯 Jr. 美国法院大楼（本案审理地，资料图）。Tony Webster／Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 2.0
