Man Sentenced to Serve 35 Years in Federal Prison for Production of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced the sentencing of David Kinh Duc Tran in federal court yesterday based upon his convictions for production of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 251(a) and (e). United States District Judge Thomas J. Whelan sentenced the defendant to serve 420 months (35 years) in federal prison and also ordered the defendant to serve five years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

On April 25, 2012, during the second day of his jury trial, Tran elected to plead guilty to all five counts of producing child pornography outside of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2251(a) and (e). Specifically, he admitted to producing five videos of sexual exploitation of several children while he was teaching in Vietnam.

According to court documents, Tran stated that he lived in Vietnam for approximately two years and returned to the United States before his arrest. Based on a tip, on August 19, 2010, the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) executed a search warrant on Tran’s motel room. Agents seized a laptop computer that was sent to the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL) to be analyzed. That analysis revealed a video of Tran teaching English in Vietnam and videos of the defendant having sex with girls who appear to be between 6 and 12 years old. The defendant has been in custody since his arrest in August 2010.

This case stems from an investigation by San Diego Police Department officers assigned to the San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, whose members include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, the Chula Vista Police Department, the United States Attorney’s Office, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service, the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the National City Police Department, the LaMesa Police Department, the Oceanside Police Department, the El Cajon Police Department, the San Diego State University Police Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’’s Department, and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. For additional information regarding ICAC, please visit www.sdicac.org.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC and Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources”.

Defendant in Case Number: 10cr3668W
David Kinh Duc Tran

Summary of Charges
Five counts, Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(a) and (e) (production of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct)

Investigating Agencies
San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force