Federal Prosecutors Will Recommend 20 Years For Wichita Man Arrested With Thousands Of Child Porn Images and Videos

WICHITA, KAN. – Federal prosecutors will recommend a 20-year sentence for a Wichita man who pleaded guilty to collecting thousands of images and videos of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

James Paul Bettes, Jr., 47, Wichita, Kan., pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Wichita to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. In his plea, he acknowledged that the investigation began in May 2014 when a detective with the Wichita Police Department downloaded child pornography that Bettes was distributing on a peer-to-peer file sharing network. The images included prepubescent children being sexually molested.

When investigators served a search warrant at Bettes’ home they found thousands of images and videos of child pornography on various devices. They determined that Bettes had been collecting child pornography since 1995 and was using a computer, external drives and other storage devices to preserve his collection.

Sentencing is set for April 9. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 years in federal prison. In addition, prosecutors will recommend restitution of $3,000 per victim to any victim who may be identified and requests restitution prior to sentencing. The total is not to exceed $50,000.

Grissom commended the Wichita Police Department, the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart for their work on the case.