Shane Jon Braaten Sentenced in U.S. District Court
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on November 2, 2011, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, SHANE JON BRAATEN, a 30-year-old resident of Billings, appeared for sentencing. BRAATEN was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 110 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Forfeiture: computer equipment
- Supervised Release: life
BRAATEN was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to receipt of child pornography.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
Beginning in May 2009, an FBI agent in Billings discovered that a computer user had child pornography videos available via a peer-to-peer file sharing network. The user was later determined to be residing at a specific address in Billings. The agent downloaded numerous child pornography videos from that user over a period of months and was able to download again from that user in April of 2010. Further investigation revealed that the user had been seen on numerous occasions between May 2009 and July 2010 by other law enforcement agents with child pornography available. The agent again downloaded from that user in October 2010.
A search warrant was obtained for the residence and served on November 19, 2010. Contact was made with BRAATEN, who admitted that he had used the peer-to-peer file sharing software to receive images of child pornography. BRAATEN admitted that his preference was for young teen girls and that he had been collecting since the eighth grade. Agents seized various computer equipment from BRAATEN's residence. A subsequent forensic examination of the equipment revealed thousands of images and movies of child pornography that BRAATEN had received via the Internet for years and up until the equipment was seized. BRAATEN possessed images and movies of children clearly prepubescent and children engaged in sadistic or masochistic abuse or other depictions of violence.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that BRAATEN will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, BRAATEN does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Billings Police Department and the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
