Press Release
CHILD PREDATOR SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
October 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations, announced that defendant Jason David Bingham, 23, of Port Saint Lucie, FL, was sentenced in federal court in Ft. Pierce on Oct. 19 before U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham to 180 months in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release as a sex offender. Bingham had pled guilty on July 27 to charges of advertising child pornography and transportation of child pornography.
The ICE-led investigation began on Feb. 15, when officers from the German Federal Police (BKA) downloaded approximately 37 image files that included 24 images depicting minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The BKA, with assistance of ICE’s Cyber Crimes Center, learned that Bingham’s computer utilized an Internet Protocol address that was assigned to a residence located in Port St. Lucie, FL.
On April 23, 2009, ICE special agents in Fort Pierce, with the assistance of detectives from the Port St. Lucie Police Department and Martin County Sheriff's Office, executed a federal search warrant at the defendant’s home and seized computers, hard drives and media. A forensic review of the defendant’s backup hard drive revealed child pornography, including numerous images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
This ICE-led investigation and arrest was part of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ICE initiative known as Operation Predator. Operation Predator protects children from sexual predators, including those who travel across continents to have sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child traffickers. Since the initiative was launched in July 2003, there have been more than 11,900 individuals arrested nationwide.
Anyone with information regarding suspected child predators or abuse is encouraged to call the ICE toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. In addition, suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
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 United States 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.
Mr. Sloman thanked ICE’s Office of Investigations for their work on this investigation and resulting prosecution. Mr. Sloman also thanked the Port St. Lucie Police Department, Martin County Sheriff's Office, and the German Federal Police (BKA) for their assistance on this matter. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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