SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) - United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, man convicted of Possession of Child Pornography was sentenced on January 9, 2014, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier. Maksim Mehiolvich Stefanyuk, age 22, was sentenced to 24 months in custody, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Stefanyuk was indicted for possessing child pornography by a federal grand jury on October 4, 2011. He pled guilty on October 23, 2013.On April 28, 2011, law enforcement officers with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at Stefanyuk’s residence in Sioux Falls. Officers seized Stefanyuk’s computer. When it was examined, images of child pornography were discovered that had been downloaded from the internet using a file-sharing program. Stefanyuk admitted knowing that he possessed the images on his personal laptop computer. This case was investigated by the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Department, the Sioux Falls Police Department, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper prosecuted the case. Stefanyuk was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 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 U.S. 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 visitwww.projectsafechildhood.gov.