Redding, Calif., Man Convicted of Child Pornography Offenses

A California man was found guilty on Jan. 29, 2010, of one count of possessing and three counts of receiving child pornography, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of the Eastern District of California announced today. Elden Ray Cibart, 60, was found guilty by Senior U.S. District Court Judge William B. Shubb after an eight-day bench trial.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Cibart had been downloading and saving child pornographic images and videos from Internet news groups to his computers since before 2001.  On Jan.18, 2006, officers from the Redding, Calif., Police Department went to Cibart’s home to investigate allegations that Cibart was involved in such activity. According to trial evidence, Cibart allowed the police officers to search one of his computers and they found child pornography. Forensic evidence offered at trial revealed that in addition to possessing images on Jan. 18, 2006, Cibart had downloaded pornographic video files to his computer hard drive on three separate days just before law enforcement officers visited his house.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurel White of the Eastern District of California and Trial Attorney Mi Yung C. Park of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). The case was investigated by the Redding Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit.