HARRISBURG, Pa. — The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a Franklin County man was taken into custody on charges of production, distribution and possession of child pornography.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, late yesterday a grand jury in Harrisburg indicted Martin Allen Mentzer, age 44, for allegedly producing child pornography in his home by using a 13 year old boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing the visual depictions of the activity. The conduct allegedly took place during a period beginning in October 2014.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl F. Bloom.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
