Oakdale Man Sentenced for Distributing Child Pornography

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier this morning in federal court in Minneapolis, a 51-year-old Oakdale man was sentenced for distributing an image containing child pornography. United States District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis sentenced Brian Gene Montgomery to 180 months in federal prison, followed by a life term of supervised release on one count of distribution of child pornography. Montgomery was indicted on August 17, 2011 and pleaded guilty on October 20, 2011.

In his plea agreement, Montgomery admitted that on February 23, 2011, he distributed an image via his computer that featured a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. In addition, Montgomery admitted distributing similar material on other occasions.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Minnesota Cyber Crimes Task Force, which is sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura M. Provinzino and Kimberly A. Svendsen.

Presently, the Justice Department is funding a study concerning the correlation between involvement in child pornography and the hands-on sexual abuse of children. A 2008 study (The Butner Study) published in the Journal of Family Violence found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.

The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to combating the sexual exploitation of children, particularly via the Internet. In Fiscal Year 2010, 2,235 defendants pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges, 2,222 of whom were sentenced to prison. In Fiscal Year 2009, 2,083 defendants were sentenced to prison on child pornography charges. For more information about these efforts, please visit the Department’s Project Safe Childhood website, at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.