Man, 70, pleads guilty to running child porn web site
A 70-year-old Cumberland man has pleaded guilty in federal court to being the lead administrator of an Internet bulletin board called the "Country Lounge" that traded in pictures of child pornography.
George Sell faces 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt in January.
The man admitted in court to running the bulletin board from December 2006 through August 2008. Members joined the private site through invitation and then could post images, according to the plea agreement.
The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office said 142 members had joined the site by the summer of 2008.
"From December 2006 through July 2008, Sell was the 'root administrator' and day-to-day manager of the bulletin board and conspired to transport images of child pornography," the plea agreement filed in court says. "Sell admitted that he directed the daily management of the bulletin board, including direction over its layout and content, membership and the 'rules' of the board."
Federal authorities from took down the site as part of an investigation dubbed "Nest Egg," a project run by the FBI's Project Safe Childhood, formed to investigate child sexual exploitation. A co-conspirator, Terry Lee Nolley, 47, of Silver Spring, pleaded guilty to charges last month and is to be sentenced in January.
Most of the details are too graphic to reprint here. The plea agreement describes victims depicted in videos as young as 6 years old.
George Sell faces 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt in January.
The man admitted in court to running the bulletin board from December 2006 through August 2008. Members joined the private site through invitation and then could post images, according to the plea agreement.
The Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office said 142 members had joined the site by the summer of 2008.
"From December 2006 through July 2008, Sell was the 'root administrator' and day-to-day manager of the bulletin board and conspired to transport images of child pornography," the plea agreement filed in court says. "Sell admitted that he directed the daily management of the bulletin board, including direction over its layout and content, membership and the 'rules' of the board."
Federal authorities from took down the site as part of an investigation dubbed "Nest Egg," a project run by the FBI's Project Safe Childhood, formed to investigate child sexual exploitation. A co-conspirator, Terry Lee Nolley, 47, of Silver Spring, pleaded guilty to charges last month and is to be sentenced in January.
Most of the details are too graphic to reprint here. The plea agreement describes victims depicted in videos as young as 6 years old.
