Mandan Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Charges

BISMARCK – U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on April 12, 2013, Harold Fetzer, 68, Mandan, N.D., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland on a charge of sexual exploitation of minors and a charge of possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Fetzer pleaded guilty to the charges on Nov. 14, 2012.

Judge Hovland sentenced Fetzer to serve 24 years and five months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Fetzer was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life. Fetzer was ordered to pay restitution of $9,208.01 and to pay a $200 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.

From Jan. 2009 until July 2012 Fetzer was found to have produced and possessed visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Fetzer was in possession of 1,216 still images and 274 videos which depicted child pornography.

This investigation was conducted by the North Dakota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and was a cooperative effort of Homeland Security Investigations, the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Mandan Police Department, with the assistance of the Morton County
State’s Attorney’s Office.

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.