Bismarck Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Charge

BISMARCK – U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that onMay 19, 2014, Preston Bushard, 33, Bismarck, N.D., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland on a charge of receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Bushard pleaded guilty to the charge on Feb. 3, 2014.

Judge Hovland sentenced Bushard to serve 15 years in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Bushard was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.

In August 2012 law enforcement officials found Bushard to be in possession of child pornography, which he had downloaded from the Internet onto his computer from January 2012 until August 2012. Bushard has a previous conviction for possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and U.S Probation & Pretrial Services.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme prosecuted the case.