The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls on March 9, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, DAVID ALLEN McQUEEN, a 24-year-old resident of Great Falls, pled guilty to possession of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for June 21, 2010. He is currently detained.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Great Falls received a referral from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the agents obtained a search warrant for McQUEEN's residence in Great Falls.

On March 30, 2009, agents served the search warrant at McQUEEN's residence. A witness identified McQUEEN's computer and disclosed that no one else used that computer.

Later that day, McQUEEN was interviewed and acknowledged he was the only user of his computer and gave the agents the password.

The computer was forensically analyzed and files containing child pornography videos were located. The files were all saved to the hard drive on McQUEEN's computer. The earliest creation date was November 15, 2008, and the most recent created date was January 5, 2009. The forensic examiner located additional evidence which showed the videos were downloaded over the Internet via Limewire, and located Limewire search terms indicative of one searching for child pornography.

McQUEEN faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervision.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.

 

 

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