ALBUQUERQUE – United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced that, yesterday in Albuquerque federal court, Albuquerque resident Jake Skinner, also known as Jack Skinner, 45, was sentenced to a 43-month term of imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release based on his federal child pornography conviction.  Skinner, a brewmaster by professional, also was ordered to pay a $150,000.00 fine and will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

Skinner was arrested based on a criminal complaint charging him with federal child pornography charges on April 9, 2010, and was released under pretrial supervision.  Skinner entered a guilty plea to a one-count information charging him with possession of child pornography on October 5, 2010 under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office.  He was remanded into federal custody after he entered his plea.

According to the criminal complaint, between April and July 2007, a special agent of the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office (NMAGO) and a member of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force learned that E-mail screen names and addresses subscribed to Skinner were being used to distribute and receive child pornography while performing a forensic examination of a computer belonging to a different suspect.  On September 12, 2007, agents from the NMAGO, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at Skinner’s residence and seized computers and computer-related media.  Forensic examination of Skinner’s computer and computer-related media revealed that he possessed more than 1000 images and 31 videos of child pornography.  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children determined that the child pornography images from Skinner’s computers and computer-related media included 107 images of 23 children who have been identified as child pornography victims and have been rescued and 3 videos of two children who have been identified as child pornography victims and have been rescued.

In his plea agreement, Skinner admitted that he possessed child pornography as alleged in the criminal information; that he had received child pornography for ten years; and that he used his AOL accounts to receive and possess child pornography.

The case was investigated by the NMAGO, ICE and the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charlyn E. Rees.  It was brought as 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, 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 identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case also was brought as part of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, whose mission is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.  There are 61 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

(Download Criminal Complaint )
(Download Plea Agreement )

 

 

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