A Bristol Township man has been arrested and charged following a child pornography investigation.
Patrick Shaknitz, 29, of the Croydon section of the township, was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with one count each of distribution and attempted distribution of child pornography. He was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday.
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In their complaint, federal authorities said undercover agents exchanged private messages with a person with the username “intoeverything1991″ starting in November of last year. The user – alleged to be Shaknitz – distributed images and videos containing child pornography.
Authorities said one video shared depicted an “adult female in a dark blue face mask molesting a minor child.”
In chats with federal agents, intoeverything1991 wrote that he abused children and put “explicit detail,” authorities said.
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Subpoenas were issued and investigators traced the IP address and other information that allegedly was connected to Shaknitz.
“As alleged in the complaint, Shaknitz is a depraved abuser of children who multiplied the impact of that abuse by sharing images of it over the Internet,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania William McSwain. “These children will have to deal with the impact of this abuse for the rest of their lives. We can never make them fully whole again, but we can bring them some measure of justice by investigating and prosecuting the people responsible for stealing their innocence.”
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“The distribution of child pornography results in the continued sexual exploitation of innocent children,” said Michael Driscoll, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “That’s what pushes the FBI to keep investigating these disturbing but important cases. Protecting kids is paramount and we’ll never give up that fight.”
Prosecutors said Shaknitz faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years incarceration with a five-year mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment, a lifetime of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
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