FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, June 15, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – James Dombeck, 41, of Stockton, pleaded guilty today to receiving and sharing child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

This case is the product of an 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 agents 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 is prosecuting the case.

According to the plea agreement filed in April 2011, law enforcement agents with the Sacramento ICAC identified Dombeck’s computer offering files of child pornography through an Internet file-sharing network. On three different occasions between April 20, 2011, and May 22, 2011, law enforcement successfully connected to Dombeck’s computer and downloaded files of child pornography. Most of the images showed prepubescent girls posed in sexually explicit ways.

On June 2, 2011, law enforcement executed a search at Dombeck’s residence in Stockton. During this search, agents found an Apple desktop computer and a Gateway computer that belonged to Dombeck. Each of these computers contained evidence of the child pornography. In a lock box in a bedroom closet were several CDs that contained approximately 40 files showing minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

After being advised of his rights under Miranda, Dombeck admitted to ICAC agents that he had been downloading images of child pornography from the Internet since 2006. Dombeck told agents that he did not retain a collection of images on his computer because they were so easy to search for and view through the file-sharing network.
               
Dombeck is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. on August 24, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. He faces a sentence of no less than five years in prison and up to 20 years, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime term of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. Upon his release, Dombeck will also be required to register as a sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

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 Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

####

 

Return to Top