Billings man sentenced to five years in prison for possessing child pornography

BILLINGS  — A Billings man who admitted to possessing hundreds of child pornography images was sentenced today to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. Bessman also was ordered to pay $18,000 restitution to his victims.

Miles Edward Bessman, 49, pleaded guilty in July to possession of child pornography as charged in an indictment.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that an investigation of Bessman began in 2019 after law enforcement received two Cybertips indicating that a certain IP address had uploaded child pornography to Google. Investigators determined that the IP address was located at Bessman’s residence and executed a search warrant for Bessman’s Google account. A review of material collected from Bessman’s account found more than 800 images of child pornography. The material included videos and images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Bessman’s residence in January 2020, collected electronic media and found files containing child pornography on his cell phone.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zeno B. Baucus and Benjamin D. Hargrove prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation and the Billings Police Department.

This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.

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