Former Fernley Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

RENO, NV—A former Fernley, Nevada man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and lifetime supervised release after authorities found videos and images of child pornography on computer equipment belonging to him, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Jason Torres, 41, was sentenced on Monday, July 23, 2012, by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones. Torres was indicted on September 14, 2011, and pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography on March 7, 2012.

Torres became a suspect in a child pornography investigation after he was identified during an undercover law enforcement operation. On July 22, 2011, law enforcement investigators executed a federal search warrant at Torres’ home and recovered a thumb drive from his vehicle, which was found to contain approximately 20 videos and 13 images of child pornography. Subsequent to that search, a friend of Torres’ turned over to investigators a laptop computer and external hard drive belonging to Torres which was found to contain an additional 125 videos and one image of child pornography. The videos and images included depictions of prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sadistic and masochistic conduct.

The investigation was conducted by members of the Internet Crimes Against Children and Innocent Images Task Forces, including the FBI, U.S. ICE-Homeland Security Investigations, Nevada Attorney General’s Office, and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carla Higginbotham.

The case has been 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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”