Christopher Anthony Quinn Sentenced In U.S. District Court

The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on June 12, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY QUINN, a 49-year-old resident of Troy, was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 72 months

Special Assessment: $100

Forfeiture: laptops and thumb drives

Supervised Release: 15 years

QUINN was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to distribution of child pornography.

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:

In March 2012, the Missoula Police Department, a member of the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, investigated QUINN for trading child pornography via the Internet.

During the investigation, the detective determined that on February 6, 2012, QUINN utilized his email address and laptop to e-mail an image to a yahoo e-mail account. The image depicts child pornography in that it depicts two minor girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The image displays the lascivious exhibition of one of the girls' pubic area or genitalia. That e-mail text was: "I have some different sets. Here are a few samples. Just let me know what you like."

A search warrant for QUINN's residence in Lincoln County was obtained and numerous items were seized.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that QUINN will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, QUINN does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Missoula Police Department, the Missoula County Sheriff's Office, the Bozeman Police Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources."