Sacramento, California - Scott Stephen Howard, 36, of Yuba City, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on April 11, 2016, Howard knowingly possessed visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shea J. Kenny is prosecuting the case.

Howard is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez on June 29. Howard faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.