Seth Patrick Durnam Pleads Guilty In U.S. Federal Court

The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on April 25, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, SETH PATRICK DURNAM, a resident of Bozeman, pled guilty to possession of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for July 25, 2013. He is currently released on special conditions.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On November 8, 2010, DURNAM was at a residence in Bozeman for a job interview.

On Saturday, November 13, 2010, the homeowner found a 2GB SD card in his driveway. The homeowner called his father who had visited earlier in the day to inquire if the card was his. His father replied that it was not and suggested that he view the images on the card to identify the owner. He did so and found hundreds of images of child pornography, that he described as "naked, under-age boys." When scrolling through the images, the homeowner found a picture of DURNAM, whom he recognized from the earlier job interview. The homeowner contacted law enforcement and turned over the card.

When interviewed by a detective the next day, DURNAM admitted that he "did like images of younger boys" but claimed it was earlier in his life. When the SD card was examined, approximately 300 sexually explicit images and 5 movies of nude prepubescent and early teen boys were found on the card. The images had been copied to the SD card on April 21, 2010, by means of another device. There were also several pictures of DURNAM on the card.

DURNAM possessed images and movies of children clearly prepubescent and children engaged in sadistic or masochistic abuse or other depictions of violence.

DURNAM faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervision.

The investigation was conducted by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office.