Moscow Man Pleads Guilty To Possessing Child Porn
COEUR D'ALENE – Joshua Jay Downer, 26, of Moscow, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to possessing sexually explicit images of minors, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.
According to the plea agreement, in September 2010, North Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force investigators learned that computer equipment in Downer’s home was used to download over 100 child pornography files on a peer-to-peer file sharing network. In November 2010, ICAC investigators executed a search warrant at Downer’s home and seized computer equipment. When interviewed by an ICAC task force detective, Downer admitted to downloading the child pornography files. A U.S. Secret Service computer forensic examiner found that a large portion of the files were videos involving children under the age of six.
Some of the seized files were submitted to the National Center for Mission and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for comparison with the Child Recognition Identification System. NCMEC identified images containing minor children that had been produced in Washington, Indiana, Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina, Nebraska, Georgia, Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, and a number of foreign countries.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will aggressively work with our local, state, and federal partners to stop the sexual exploitation of children,” said Olson. “Those who continue to victimize children by possessing or distributing images of children being sexually abused will be targeted and prosecuted.”
Downer faces up to ten years in prison, a fine up to $250,000, and a minimum term of five years to lifetime supervised release. Downer will also be required to forfeit the computer equipment used during the commission of the offense.
Sentencing is set for November 28, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.
The case was investigated by the North Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a group comprised of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in North Idaho.
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