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Date: 09-26-2019

Case Style:

United States of America v. Andrew Dowdle, Carl Masters and Ric Crossfield

Case Number: 2:18-cr-00352-HB

Judge: Harvey Bartle III

Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Lauren E. Britsch and Kaylynn N. Foulon

Defendant's Attorney:


Call 888-354-4529 if you need help finding a sexual child exploitation enterprise or child pornography conspiracy lawyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


Description:




Philadelphia, PA - Members of Nationwide Child Exploitation Enterprise Sentenced to Prison

The following sentences were handed down for defendants’ participation in a nationwide child exploitation enterprise and child pornography conspiracy occurring over the online communications service Discord: (a) Andrew Dowdle, 47, of Oswego, New York, was sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment and 15 years of supervised release; (b) Carl Masters, 44, of Lawrence, Kansas, was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release; and (c) Ric Crossfield, Jr., 24, of Queens, New York, was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment and 40 years of supervised release. All three defendants will be required to register as sex offenders upon their release from incarceration.

The case represents the first child exploitation enterprise prosecution ever brought in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The sentenced defendants and their co-conspirators congregated on Discord, an Internet communications service permitting users to create “servers” (essentially chat rooms with certain advanced features) typically organized around a particular common interest. In the case of the sentenced defendants and their co-conspirators, their common interest was child pornography streamed via web camera or cell phone camera over any of a number of video-streaming platforms (including Omegle, Skype, live.me, Snapchat, Periscope, musical.ly, YouNow and others).

Over various Discord servers, the defendants and the other enterprise members encouraged one another to produce child pornography by communicating over the Internet directly with minors and enticing them to broadcast sexually explicit videos of themselves, and then to share the results of their successful efforts (which they described as “wins”) with other members of the group. The members also provided each other with links to child pornography and technical advice designed to facilitate the viewing and retention of child pornography videos. Hundreds of minor children were victimized by the enterprise, and vast quantities of child pornography were produced.

Each of these sentences followed a previous guilty plea. Dowdle pled guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography on April 8, 2019. Masters pled guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise and conspiracy to advertise child pornography on April 25, 2019. Crossfield pled guilty to engaging in a child exploitation enterprise and conspiracy to advertise child pornography on April 17, 2019.

“The harm caused by any child exploitation is devastating and long-lasting,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Williams. “In this case, the impact can be multiplied by the hundreds of victims these defendants and others manipulated for their own benefit. There can be no doubt that children across the nation, and the world, are safer now that these defendants are off the street. We stand ready with our federal and local partners to identify and prosecute all those who would prey upon minor children.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.


Charges:


18:2252A(g) - ENGAGING IN CHILD EXPLOITATION ENTERPRISE
(1)

18:2251(d) and (e) - CONSPIRACY TO ADVERTISE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
(2)

Outcome: Andrew Dowdle:

IMPRISONMENT: 16 YEARS; SUPERVISED RELEASE: 15 YEARS; SPECIAL ASSESSMENT: $100


Carl Masters:


IMPRISONMENT: 27 YEARS; SUPERVISED RELEASE: LIFE; SPECIAL ASSESSMENT: $100.00


Cross Field:


Sentence not available


09/25/2019 192 SEALED SENTENCING DOCUMENT by RIC CROSSFIELD, JR. (FILED UNDER SEAL). (ke) (ke, ). (Entered: 09/26/2019)
09/25/2019 193 SEALED Sentencing Document by RIC CROSSFIELD, JR. (FILED UNDER SEAL). (ke) (ke, ). (Entered: 09/26/2019)
09/25/2019 194 JUDGMENT AS TO ANDREW DOWDLE (4), Count(s) 1s, DISMISSED ON GOVERNMENT'S MOTION; Count(s) 2s, IMPRISONMENT: 16 YEARS; SUPERVISED RELEASE: 15 YEARS; SPECIAL ASSESSMENT: $100 AS TO ANDREW DOWDLE. Signed by HONORABLE HARVEY BARTLE, III on 9/25/2019.9/26/2019 Entered and Copies Mailed and E-Mailed by Chambers. (ahf) (Entered: 09/26/2019)
09/25/2019 195 Minute Entryfor proceedings held before HONORABLE HARVEY BARTLE, III in Courtroom 16-A Sentencing held on 9/24/19 for CARL MASTERS (1), Count(s) 1s, IMPRISONMENT: 27 YEARS; SUPERVISED RELEASE: LIFE; SPECIAL ASSESSMENT: $100.00; Count(s) 2s, DISMISSED ON GOVERNMENT'S MOTION. Court Reporter ESR.(ke) (Entered: 09/26/2019)
09/25/2019 196 ORDER AS TO CHRISTIAN BRENNAN THAT EXCLUDABLE TIME IN THE ABOVE CASE BE COMPUTED AND ENTERED IN THE RECORD FOR THE PERIOD OF A CONTINUANCE FROM THE DATE OF FILING, 9/24, TO A LATER DATE TO BE SET BY THE COURT, ETC. Signed by HONORABLE HARVEY BARTLE, III on 9/25/19.9/26/19 Entered and Copies E-Mailed. (ke) (Entered: 09/26/2019)
09/25/2019 197 SEALED Minute Entry for proceedings held before HONORABLE HARVEY BARTLE, III in Courtroom 16A held on 9/25/2019 for RIC CROSSFIELD, JR. (5). Court Reporter: ESR. (FILED UNDER SEAL) (ems) (ems). (Entered: 09/26/2019)

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