SACRAMENTO, CA—John Franklin Bye, 45, of Marysville, was sentenced Tuesday by United States District Judge John A. Mendez to 14 years and seven months in prison for distribution of child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, in 2013, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Bye had been trading images of child pornography through e-mail. Law enforcement obtained a state search warrant for the contents of Bye’s e-mails and found multiple attachments of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case was the product of an investigation by the FBI and the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally and state-funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department with agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The Sacramento ICAC investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking.

Tehama Man Pleads Guilty

Robert Anthony Bonnot, 54, of Gerber, pleaded guilty Tuesday to production of child pornography. According to court documents, in 2010, on at least six separate occasions, Bonnot produced child pornography of a minor child and broadcast it through his web camera to New Zealand. In January 2011, New Zealand officials notified the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that videos of Bonnot’s activities had been discovered. A forensic examination of his computer identified 426 images and five videos of child pornography. An additional 172 images of child pornography were found on a CD created by Bonnot.

Bonnot has been in custody in the Sacramento County Jail since March 2011. He is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Mendez on January 20, 2015. Bonnot faces a statutory penalty of 15 to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the product of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted both cases.

These cases were 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 those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.