United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway
Eastern District of Missouri FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jan Diltz THURSDAY, FEBRUARY22, 2007
PHONE: (314) 539-7719 www.doj.gov/usao/moe
FAX: (314) 539-2309
FORMER PRESIDENT OF ST. LOUIS CHAPTER OF SUSAN G. KOMEN FOR THE CURE PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Sandra Batte pled guilty this morning to possession of child pornography, U. S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway of the Eastern District of Missouri, and Roland Corvington, Special Agent in Charge, FBI St. Louis, announced today at a press conference in St. Louis. Ms. Batte was President of the St. Louis Chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure until her resignation last week. Hanaway went on to point out that Susan G. Komen for the Cure had no knowledge of the situation and the activities, and were in no way associated with Ms. Batte's volunteer role for the organization.
During May, 2005, FBI Special Agents in Atlanta, Georgia arrested a male individual on federal charges, including charges related to child exploitation. During the execution of a search warrant on that individual's computer, the agents determined that he had recently been in e-mail and instant message contact with Sandra Batte in St. Louis County, Missouri. In a December 9, 2005 interview, Batte advised FBI agents that the male individual had previously sent her images of child pornography via the internet. On December 12, 2005, a federal search warrant was executed on her home computer. A subsequent examination found images of minors under the age of twelve engaged in sexually explicit conduct stored within the seized computer. Batte, 60, 14400 block of White Pine Ridge, Chesterfield, pled guilty to one felony count of possession of child pornography. She appeared before United States District Judge Jean C. Hamilton. Batte now faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. Sentencing has been set for April 27, 2007. This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/. Hanaway commended the work on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Regional Computer Crimes Education and Enforcement Group, and Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith, who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office. ###
