Judge Sentences Child Pornography Defendant to Prison, Takes Restitution for Victims Under Advisement

TOPEKA, KS—A federal court judge Monday sentenced a Brown County man to five years in federal prison for distributing child pornography and took under advisement claims for restitution from three victims totaling more than $2 million, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Prosecutors urged the judge to order restitution be paid to victims who said being sexually exploited as children had left them with permanent mental, emotional, and psychological damage, as well as ongoing costs for therapy, and they continued to suffer from knowing that images of their being abused are widely distributed on the Internet. Defense attorneys argued that the defendant was only one of many users of peer-to-peer software who downloaded, viewed, and distributed images of the victims. Prosecutors argued that victims have a right under federal law to restitution in child pornography cases. They cited more than 300 orders for restitution already made to the same victims, whose images were found on other defendants’ computers.

Brandon J. Hollister, 32, Horton, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography. In his plea, he admitted he used peer-to-peer file sharing software to download and distribute images of child pornography. An FBI agent in Kansas City downloaded 33 image files and 37 video files from Hollister’s computer. Among those were images in which the victims previously had been identified, including the “Cindy series,” “the Jan-Feb series,” and the “Vicky series.” The victim in the “Cindy series” made a request for restitution of more than $1.2 million. The victim of the “Jan-Feb series” sought $150,000 in restitution. The victim of the “Vicky series” sought more than $734,000 in restitution.

Grissom commended the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney for their work on the case.