Drugged and Bound at least Five Children to Produce Child Pornography Which Gazafi Then Distributed
GREENBELT, Md. (June 23, 2014)—U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced William S. Gazafi, age 44, of Lusby, Maryland, today to 120 years in prison for six counts of sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Brigadier General Keith M. Givens, Commander Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
“We investigate cases every day that make us shake our heads, but for someone to sexually abuse a five-month-old baby defies comprehension. Cases such as this serve as a reminder that in this day and age, a person’s status and position doesn’t immediately make him trustworthy,” said Steve Vogt, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Division. “Today, our children and our community are safer because of the dedication the agents and detectives who worked this case showed in tracking down this man and making sure he spends the rest of his life in prison.”
According to the indictment, court documents and statements made at his plea hearing, on August 15, 2013, Gazafi engaged in a chat on a website dedicated to incest discussions with an undercover officer. During the chat, Gazafi discussed his sexual interest in children and advised that he had been drugging and molesting several children, including an infant. During the chat, Gazafi sent seven images to the undercover officer, three of which were child pornography he stated he produced after drugging the child. Gazafi was subsequently identified and arrested.
At the time of his arrest, Gazafi was carrying multiple digital media items. A forensic examination of those items and others seized from his residence revealed videos and images that Gazafi produced of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including one child as young as five months old. The images also depict children bound and handcuffed while sleeping. In addition to producing hundreds of images of five children, ranging in age of five months to seven years, Gazafi distributed the images he produced to others on the Internet. Gazafi was communicating with other child pornography producers, some of whom sent him images of children they were abusing. Thus far, three children have been identified as a result. Gazafi possessed over 15,000 images and videos of children being sexually abused, many toddler and infant age. Gazafi is a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force working at Andrews Air Force Base. Gazafi remains detained.
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.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the "resources" tab on the left of the page.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI’s Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force, Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. U.S. Attorney Rosenstein recognized the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office and the Metropolitan Police Department, for their assistance in the execution of the search warrant. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the U.S. Justice Department, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Sullivan, who are prosecuting the case.
Source: Office of United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein
RELATED INFORMATION:
Lusby Man Indicted for Sex Crimes Against Infant, Children, September 12, 2013
http://somd.com/news/headlines/2013/17160.shtml
Lusby Man Pleads Guilty to Exploiting a Minor, April 21, 2014
http://somd.com/news/headlines/2014/18107.shtml