FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
October 13, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:11-CR-5 MCE

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. sentenced Benjamin Cameron Halpain, 31, of Rancho Cordova, to five years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, for receiving and sharing child pornography. Halpain pleaded guilty to the charge on July 28, 2011.

This case was the product of an extensive investigation by the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally and state-funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff's Department with members from federal, state, and local agencies. The Sacramento ICAC investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted the case.

According to court documents, between September 2009 and March 2010, ICAC detectives identified a computer at Halpain's residence offering files of child pornography for download through a file-sharing network. When law enforcement agents searched Halpain's residence on April 26, 2010, they found computers in Halpain's bedroom containing about 900 files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including 234 video files.

In sentencing Halpain, Judge England described the images as "very troubling." He noted the harm done to the victims through Halpain's acts: "Every time [child pornography is] downloaded, that means that someone has participated in the exploitation [of a child]." And additional downloading of images from the Internet increases the exploitation of the abused child "exponentially." According to Judge England, as long as there is a market for child pornography, "people will still produce it."

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice's ongoing Project Safe Childhood initiative which was launched to increase federal prosecutions of sexual predators of children, and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children including child pornography trafficking. As a part of PSC, the United States Attorney's Office has teamed with state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe Internet use, thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

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