Wisconsin Man Ordered to Pay Restitution to a Victim in a Child Pornography Case

FARGO - U. S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Aug. 21, 2014, Robert Carey Evans, 58, of Waukesha, Wis., was ordered by U. S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to pay $3250 in restitution to a child pornography victim. This is the first time that the Federal District Court in North Dakota has ordered a Defendant to pay restitution to a victim whose abuse appears in the child pornography possessed by the Defendant under the new guidelines set forth by the United States Supreme Court.

In April of this year, the U. S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Paroline v. United States, holding that possessors of child pornography may be held liable for a victim’s losses caused by the trade of her images. The Supreme Court held that district courts should order restitution where “the defendant possessed a victim’s images” and the “victim has outstanding losses caused by the continuing traffic in those images but where it is impossible to trace a particular amount of those losses to the individual defendant.”

On Oct. 25, 2013, a 12-person jury found Evans guilty of 14 counts of possession of child pornography and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Feb. 24, 2014. Following the Defendant’s conviction, the victim submitted a claim for restitution for her losses that she incurred as a result of Evans’ criminal conduct.

This case came to the attention of law enforcement after a North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations special agent assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force discovered two computers geographically located in North Dakota that were sharing child pornography in a peer-to-peer network. A search warrant was issued for Evan’s Fargo apartment where task force officers seized more than 13 hard drives and 43 DVDs containing child pornography. A subsequent forensic examination of this media revealed more than 22,000 images and nearly 1400 videos of child pornography.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Fargo Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl prosecuted the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood in conjunction with Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) help Federal, State and Local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders who use the Internet, online communications systems or computer technology to sexually exploit children. The ICAC Program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces engaging in proactive investigations, forensic investigations and criminal prosecutions. Project safe childhood also helps to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.