Sandpoint Man Given Five-Year Prison Sentence for Possessing Child Pornography
COEUR D’ALENE, ID - October 20, 2015 - Brent Anthony Stevens, 30, of Sandpoint, Idaho, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison for possession of sexually explicit images of minors, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Stevens to pay $3,000 in restitution to two children in images Stevens possessed, and to serve seven years of supervised release upon his release from prison. Stevens pleaded guilty to the charge on March 31, 2015.
According to the plea agreement, between July 22, 2013, and September 12, 2013, investigators with the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) observed that a computer in Sandpoint, Idaho, was making sexually explicit images of minors available on the Internet. ICAC investigators were able to determine that the images were being shared from a computer at Stevens’ residence and obtained a search warrant.
Stevens was present during the search warrant’s execution. He admitted to downloading child pornography and told investigators they would find it on his computer. A computer forensic examiner later found child pornography on a computer and a thumb-drive seized from Stevens. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children determined that Stevens’ child pornography collection included images of at least 100 identified minors from multiple states and foreign countries.
The case was investigated through the collaborative effort of the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office, Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, Idaho Attorney General’s Office, United States Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Secret Service. These agencies participate in the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a statewide coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecution agencies, focused on apprehending and prosecuting individuals who use the Internet to criminally exploit children. For more information about the Idaho ICAC Task Force and a list of all the participating agencies, visit www.icacidaho.org.
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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Idaho
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