Sacramento Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Daniel L. Bonnett, 40, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by United States District Judge John A. Mendez to 15 years in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Bonnett pleaded guilty on February 10, 2015. According to court documents, between January 27, 2013, and February 14, 2013, Bonnett sent and received images depicting the sexual exploitation of children over peer-to-peer file sharing networks and by using other Internet applications. When he was arrested, he had multiple computers with thousands of images and videos of child pornography in each. When sentencing Bonnett, Judge Mendez observed that the combination of prison time and supervision will result in Bonnett effectively spending the rest of his life under observation, which Judge Mendez observed was necessary to protect the public from future crimes by Bonnett.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Morris is prosecuting the case.

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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.