ALAN D. BECKER, 50, of Vancouver, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to ten years in prison and lifetime supervised release for Possession of Child Pornography. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said child pornography does tremendous harm to the victims.

According to the criminal complaint filed in May 2008, on November 20, 2007, a Vancouver Police Officer was called to an apartment complex on East 5th Street in Vancouver. At the manager’s apartment the officer encountered a woman who said she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, ALAN BECKER. BECKER had left the apartment complex. The woman invited the officer into her apartment and explained that she had fought with BECKER, and that at one point he had grabbed her by the hair and ripped the phone from her hand and broke it in two to prevent her from calling 9-1-1. The woman alleged that BECKER had child pornography on his computer and on various disks. The woman provided the computer and the disks to the officer. BECKER was arrested later that night on the domestic violence charge. BECKER pleaded guilty September 29, 2008.

A review of the computer and materials taken from BECKER’s home revealed 448 images of child pornography and 475 movie files of child pornography. Some of the pornography was obtained over the internet via peer to peer file sharing programs. BECKER also has a 1983 conviction in Oregon for third degree Rape involving a child under 16-years-old.

In asking for the ten year sentence and lifetime supervision, Assistant United States Attorney Mike Dion wrote to the court that BECKER is a danger to children. “Besides collecting child pornography, Becker also collected media reports on children who had been abducted and murdered by sexual predators. This man gets his sexual pleasure from reading about the abuse, torture, and murder of children, and his history proves that his interest in children goes beyond fantasy,” Mr. Dion wrote in his sentencing memo.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov .

The case was investigated by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) (with assistance from the VPD-Clark County Sheriff’s Office Digital Evidence Cybercrime Unit) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Dion.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.

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