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Press Release

Claremore Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sexually Exploiting a Child

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Oklahoma

A 25-year-old Claremore man has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of one count of sexual exploitation of a child, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. Zachary Newberry pleaded guilty Nov. 20, 2018.

Today, U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell, sentenced Newberry to 30 years in prison. Newberry will serve 10 years on supervised release following completion of his prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

“Project Safe Childhood prosecutions are in full effect here in northeastern Oklahoma thanks to the partnership between TPD’s Cyber Crimes Unit and federal prosecutors. If you prey on children, we will find you, prosecute you and hold you accountable for your actions against the most vulnerable members of our community,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “Tulsa’s cyber detectives do excellent work to hunt down and identify child predators lurking about the internet. Our federal prosecutors then bring them to justice in a court of law.”

On July 30, the Tulsa Police Department received Newberry’s phone in an anonymous package, which was accompanied by a note stating the phone contained child pornography. Detectives from the police department’s Cyber Crimes Unit forensically examined the phone and discovered that it had been used to film a single video of child pornography. Other information recovered from the phone led detectives to Newberry, who eventually confessed to filming himself sexually abusing the adolescent victim.

Newberry has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Tulsa Police Department investigated the crime. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s 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.

Contact

Public Affairs
918-382-2755

Updated February 25, 2019

Topic
Project Safe Childhood