VANCOUVER MAN SENTENCED TO FIVE YEARS FOR POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Defendant Used Internet to Try to Meet Single Women with Children
DAVID TOSHIAKI TAKEUCHI, 39, of Vancouver, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to sixty months of imprisonment and ten years of supervised release for Receipt of Child Pornography. TAKEUCHI was arrested in December 2007, and pleaded guilty February 4, 2008. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton told him that the child pornography industry hurts “real people . . . in serious and insidious ways.”
According to records filed in the case TAKEUCHI was identified as a suspect after he subscribed to a web site that was identified as providing child pornography. The investigation dubbed, “Operation Emissary,” was initiated in the New Jersey office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in late 2005. More than 260 people were arrested nationwide. Those charged had subscribed to a hard core child pornography website in late 2005 and early 2006. The arrests were made in 44 states, including Washington.
Pursuant to court order, TAKEUCHI’s Vancouver home was searched in August 2006. Agents discovered more than 1,300 images of child pornography on the hard drive of his computer. TAKEUCHI also had images of child pornography that he had printed out. Additionally agents determined that TAKEUCHI used web sites such as Craig’s List and Yahoo Personals to advertise himself as a single father trying to meet single mothers of young children.
In his sentencing memo Assistant United States Attorney Mike Dion noted that TAKEUCHI’s collection and viewing of child pornography contributes to the suffering and exploitation of child victims. And Dion added “Takeuchi’s urges go beyond looking at pictures. Although Takeuchi claims that he has never molested a child, but admits that he would like to if he had the chance. Takeuchi may have been trying to turn his fantasies into reality – he was trolling the Internet looking for single women with children.”
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mike Dion.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.
