Wilkes-Barre Man Indicted For Receipt And Possession Of Child Pornography

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Roland Bennett Rhodes, III, age 54, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was indicted on November 5, 2024, by a federal grand jury for both receipt of and possession of child pornography.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment charges Rhodes with receipt of and possession of child pornography depicting minors under the age of 12 years, engaging in sexually explicit conduct on October 24, 2024, in Luzerne County.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tatum Wilson is prosecuting the case.

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.

The maximum penalty under federal law for these offenses is 40 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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