Logan Resident Sentenced to 135 Months in Federal Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

SALT LAKE CITY—Douglas Scott Bessinger, age 47, of Logan, has been sentenced to 135 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography in October.
U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell, who imposed the sentence Monday, also ordered Bessinger to be placed on supervised release for life after he completes his federal sentence. (There is no parole in the federal criminal justice system.)

As a part of a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors, Bessinger admitted that on Feb. 24, 2010, he knowingly distributed child pornography when he transmitted images of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct via SKYPE on the Internet. The images were transmitted from Utah to California.

He also admitted that on July 7, 2010, he possessed at least 300 but less than 600 images of child pornography at his Utah residence. These images contained prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

According to a complaint filed in the case, Bessinger came to law enforcement's attention when an officer at the Redlands Police Department in Redlands, California, met with a concerned citizen who had been speaking with an adult male, who identified himself as "Doug," on a webcam chat website and via SKYPE. The content of the Internet communications concerned the individual who reported the conduct to the police. The Redlands Police Department obtained search warrants which identified "Doug" as Douglas Scott Bessinger of Logan, Utah.

A search warrant was later executed at Bessinger's residence in Utah. Law enforcement authorities found numerous images of children engaged in sexual activities with adults on a laptop computer, including some appearing to be under the age of 3 being sexually abused by adult males.

In addition to the California police department, the case also was investigated by the Cache County Sheriff's Office and the FBI.