Reno Man Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Possession Of Child Pornography

RENO, Nev. – A Reno man has been sentenced to five years in prison, lifetime supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution for his guilty plea to receiving child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada.

“Today’s sentencing is an example of proven partnerships among a service provider, a nonprofit organization, and law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “The defendant abused the use of free public internet connections to commit these heinous crimes against the most vulnerable in our communities. We will continue to use all available resources to identify individuals who commit crimes against our children.”

Phillip Bradley Sanderson, 26, was sentenced on Monday, Nov. 7, by U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du. Sanderson pleaded guilty on May 16, 2016, to one count of receipt of child pornography. He was indicted by a grand jury on May 6, 2015.

According to court records, in August 2014, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a cybertip from Google, Inc., which reported that one of its users was emailing images of suspected child pornography. NCMEC referred the matter to law enforcement, and the images were confirmed to depict child pornography and Sanderson was identified as the email user. On March 3, 2015, Nevada Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force agents and officers executed a search warrant at Sanderson’s residence. A forensic examination of seven digital devices found at the residence revealed approximately 32 images on Sanderson’s laptop and cellular phone of infants and children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and information that Sanderson had used specific search terms to locate and receive child pornography. During an interview, Sanderson admitted to searching for and downloading child pornography files on the internet using free WI-FI at the Washoe County Public Library and a local casino. He also admitted that he emailed child pornography files to himself so he could save the files on his other electronic devices, and that he had been searching for and downloading child pornography for many years.

The case was investigated by the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon Bryant.

The NCMEC’s CyberTipline provides the public and electronic service providers with the ability to report suspected child sexual exploitation. More than 12.7 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been made to the CyberTipline between 1998 and June 2016. The public and electronic service providers are encouraged to report information at www.cybertipline.com or by calling the 24-hour hotline at 1-800-843-5678.

This case was brought as 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 U.S. 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 and for information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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