Fargo Man Sentenced to Eleven Years in Prison for Distributing and Possessing Child Pornography
FARGO - U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Sept. 6, 2012, Blaine Denis Campbell, 36, of Fargo, N.D., was sentenced before U.S. District
Judge Ralph R. Erickson on charges of distribution of materials involving the sexual
exploitation of minors and possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of
minors.
Judge Erickson sentenced Campbell to 11 years’ imprisonment to be followed by
10 years of supervised release. Campbell was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to
the Crime Victim's Fund.
Campbell pleaded guilty on May 1, 2012, to trafficking images and videos
depicting young boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The forensic examination of
Campbell’s electronic media revealed that he played a role in the production of some of
the sexually explicit material found on his computer and other media. Specifically,
Campbell would let adolescent boys believe he was a 12-year-old girl while communicating with them on the internet. He even went so far as to send these
liked-aged boys pornographic images of a 12-year-old girl whom he represented he was.
In return, these young boys would expose themselves sexually to Campbell via the
internet.
In total, Campbell possessed approximately 600 images and 24 videos of child
pornography involving mostly adolescent-aged boys.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Assistant U.S Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative
launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of
child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. 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, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
