FBI employee from Gainesville convicted for child porn

Samuel I. Kaplan, 64, of Gainesville has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography. Kaplan’s plea was accepted by United States District Judge T.S. Ellis III.

Kaplan faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 27.

According to court records, Kaplan, who is employed as an information technology program manager at an FBI facility in Chantilly, was discovered using the FBI’s network to facilitate sexually explicit communications. During the course of investigating Kaplan, investigators from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General discovered that he possessed, on his home computer, between 10 and 20 images depicting minor victims engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case is being investigated by the United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Special assistant United States attorney Jeffrey Zeeman is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Times Community © 2007 | Gainesville Times