California Man Sentenced to 10 years in prison for distribution of child pornography

Anchorage, Alaska-U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a California man was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for three counts of distributing child pornography. 

Douglas Earl Blakeley, 36, from Riverside, California, was sentenced on August 12, 2013, by U.S.  District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess to 120 months in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release, for distributing sexually explicit videos and images of children.  Blakeley emailed the materials to an email account in Alaska between September 2011 and May 2012.

            According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey J. Renschen, over 2,000 images and 72 videos of children being sexually exploited were involved, including images of children under age 12, and “material that portrays sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.”

            At Blakeley’s sentencing, Judge Burgess noted the seriousness of his offense, the need to deter this kind of conduct, and the need to protect the public.  Judge Burgess also addressed the need for treatment, and the need to avoid sentencing disparities among similarly situated defendants.  After serving his 10 years in prison, Blakeley must serve 20 years of supervised release and will be required to comply with special conditions including participating in sex offender assessment and treatment, and registering as a sex offender.

This case was initiated as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better identify, 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.

Ms. Loeffler commends Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations for their investigation of this case.