North Carolina Man sentenced to 9 years for distribution of child pornography
Anchorage, Alaska B U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a North Carolina man was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for four counts of distributing child pornography.
Jason Lee Branham, 27, was sentenced on Tuesday, November 20, 2012, by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess, to 108 months in prison, followed by 30 years of supervised release, for distributing sexually explicit videos and images of children. Branham emailed the materials to an email account in Alaska in September 2011.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey J. Renschen, who prosecuted the case, over 500 images of child pornography were involved, including images of children under age 12, and “material that portrays sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.”
In ordering Branham’s sentence, Judge Burgess noted the seriousness of his offense, the need to deter this kind of conduct, the need to protect the public, the need for treatment, and the need to avoid sentencing disparities among similarly situated defendants. After serving his 9 years in prison, Branham must serve 30 years of supervised release and be required to comply with special conditions of participating in sex offender assessment and treatment, and registering as a sex offender.
Ms. Loeffler commends Homeland Security Investigations for their investigation of this case.
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 combines federal, state and local resources to better identify, 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.
