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Danielle Sebenick, 29, of Glenside, was sentenced to seven years in prison with ten years of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Petrese B. Tucker for her distribution and possession of child pornography.
Sebenick in 2018 was identified as the administrator of a website dedicated to the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, and used the platform to chat with other child sex offenders and traffic child porn, Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said.
At the time that she committed these crimes, Sebenick was six months’ pregnant with her first child, federal officials said.
"During her online communications with other child sex offenders, Sebenick discussed her plans to sexually abuse her baby as soon as she gave birth," authorities said.
"Fortunately, Sebenick was identified by law enforcement, arrested, and incarcerated. She gave birth in prison and the child was placed in the custody of family members."
In May 2019, Sebenick pleaded guilty to charges stemming from an investigation into her trafficking in videos of child pornography on the internet during November 2018 -- while she was employed at Kids First Swim School in Jenkintown, PA.
“Not only did this defendant commit the heinous crime of possessing and distributing child pornography, but she did so while employed at a business that caters to children and while threatening to sexually abuse her own baby,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Williams. “The thought of a mother bringing a child into the world with the plan to abuse him or her, a helpless infant, is almost unfathomable. She will now spend years behind bars where she no longer poses a threat to our community.”
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.
Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Abington Police Department, and the Montgomery County Criminal Investigation Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Michelle Rotella.
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