Sacramento Man Indicted On Child Pornography Charges
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A 52-year-old Sacramento man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges.
Phillip J. Colwell is charged with producing child pornography, transmitting obscene matter to a minor, and using a cell phone to entice a minor to engage in unlawful sexual conduct, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner.
The case is the product of a joint investigation by the FBI's Sacramento-based Innocence Lost Task Force, the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.
According to court documents filed in both state and federal court, it is alleged that in October 2011, Colwell engaged in a series of cell phone text conversations with a 14-year old Sacramento boy identified as Victim 1, to whom he sent sexually explicit images and with whom he sought to engage in sexual conduct.
Court documents also allege that Colwell encouraged Victim 1 to produce sexually explicit images of himself to send to Colwell. The indictment further alleges that in July 2011, Colwell produced sexually explicit images of a 16-year-old boy identified as Victim 2.
Court documents allege that Colwell engaged in sex acts with Victim 2, and that he produced sexually explicit photos of the boy and uploaded them to a website for purposes of promoting the commercial sex trafficking of the boy.
Colwell has not yet been arraigned on the federal charges. He is in the Sacramento County Jail on $200,000 bail pending resolution of similar state charges.
His next court date on the state case is scheduled for March 1.
