Joshua Lang, a 37-year-old resident of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 430 months in prison and lifetime supervised release for child sexual exploitation and child pornography offenses. United States District Judge Timothy J. Savage also ordered Lang to pay $23,545 in restitution and $14,300 in special assessments.
The investigation began after the Philadelphia Police Department Special Victims Unit (PPD SVU) received information from the Tampa Police Department in July 2023 that Lang had purchased child pornography from a 13-year-old girl on Instagram in December 2022. Following this lead, PPD SVU and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia executed a search warrant at the Mayfair residence shared by Lang and his partner Kenneth Miller.
Authorities discovered that both men were involved not only in online activities but also in hands-on sexual abuse of children. They manufactured, traded, and collected videos and images involving one of their victims as well as other minors who visited their home. Hidden cameras were installed to surreptitiously record at least five children between the ages of nine and seventeen using the bathroom or showering.
Lang and Miller were arrested on July 19, 2023, charged with multiple sexual offenses in Philadelphia County, then later indicted federally. In February 2024, a federal grand jury returned a 16-count indictment against both men for conspiracy to manufacture child pornography and related charges. Miller pleaded guilty to several offenses and was sentenced last September to 400 months’ imprisonment with five years of supervised release.
The investigation revealed that over approximately three years, Lang and Miller sexually abused Minor 1 when he was between twelve and fourteen years old while recording videos of the abuse. They also discussed strategies for grooming minors for exploitation on a near-daily basis during this period.
Lang alone committed additional acts by abusing Minor 2 when she was eight or nine years old; he recorded these incidents as well. He amassed more than 13,000 unique files containing child sexual abuse material on his iPhone.
“The crimes Lang committed are stomach-turning,” said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. “He sexually abused two children, documented that exploitation, and violated the privacy and trust of other children for his and his partner’s gratification. Together, they strategized ways to sexually groom minors to whom they had access. Our community is emphatically safer with these predators in prison, and today’s sentence ensures Lang will remain behind bars where he can’t harm another innocent child.”
“Today’s sentencing brings a just end to the depravity of two grown men, Joshua Lang and Kenneth Miller, who conspired to sexually exploit and abuse innocent children over an extended period of time. Their actions were not only reprehensible but meticulously planned and executed,” said Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia Edward V. Owens. “The collaborative efforts of HSI Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania were crucial in uncovering the full extent of their vile actions and bringing them to justice. We remain steadfast in our commitment to relentlessly pursuing those who engage in such abhorrent crimes and safeguarding our communities from such predators.”
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood—a national initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006—aimed at combating child sexual exploitation through coordinated federal, state, and local efforts (https://www.justice.gov/psc). The case was investigated by PPD SVU along with HSI Philadelphia; Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Amanda McCool prosecuted it.
