Extradited Canadian Man Sentenced To Jail For 5 Years For Distribution Of Child Pornography

          Tristram J. Coffin, United States Attorney for the District of Vermont, stated that Roy Aubie, 58, of Québec, Canada, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III, to 60 months in prison for the distribution of child pornography.  Aubie was also sentenced to eight years of supervised release after the completion of his prison term.

          According to Court records, as part of an investigation into internet-facilitated child exploitation, a detective with the South Burlington Police Department created an undercover profile on Hi5, a social networking website, in the name of “Anna,” a fictitious thirteen-year-old girl from South Burlington.  On December 6, 2007, the defendant sent a message to Anna asking if he could get to know her.  They corresponded on Hi5 and Yahoo! instant messenger and over email for a period of approximately fifteen months, and, during this time, the defendant initiated and engaged in sexually explicit conduct and conversation with Anna in an attempt to entice her to engage in actual sexual conduct with him.  One of the ways the defendant sought to accomplish this was by “grooming” Anna, by steering her to a number of his own websites designed for sharing images and videos of child pornography.  Through his websites, the defendant had created virtual communities where he encouraged other individuals to post their own homemade or otherwise produced images and videos of child pornography.  Pursuant to a federal search warrant, law enforcement searched the defendant’s Yahoo! account and discovered that the defendant had emailed images and videos of child pornography to others.

            On June 23, 2009, Aubie was indicted by a federal grand jury on a four-count indictment charging him with two counts of Distribution of Child Pornography and two counts of Solicitation and Promotion of Child Pornography.  On June 25, 2013, the defendant was extradited to the United States and arrested upon arrival.  On that date, he appeared before United States Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy who detained the defendant pending trial.  Aubie pled guilty to Count One of the indictment on February 5, 2014, based in part upon an agreement that the government and the defense jointly recommend a sentence of 60 months incarceration.

            This case was investigated by the South Burlington Police Department and the United States Secret Service, with the assistance of Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police agency for Québec.    The United States Attorney, Tristram J. Coffin, commends those agencies for their work and international cooperation.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys, Nancy J. Creswell and Paul Van de Graaf.  Aubie was represented by Steven Barth of the Office of the Federal Public Defender.