Kelso Man Sentenced to Prison For Possession of Child Pornography Defendant Hid Camera to Videotape Young Female in Bathroom

BRIAN KEITH ALTON, 39, of Kelso, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 63 months in prison and twenty years of supervised release for Possession of Child Pornography. ALTON will be required to register as a sex offender. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton, said “this offense is not just serious it is horrendous... His perversion will haunt him and his (victims) forever.”

ALTON pleaded guilty on December 9, 2008. According to the plea agreement, on June 8, 2006, members of the Kelso Police Department executed a search warrant at ALTON’s Kelso home. Officers seized two computers and a video camera. A forensic examination of the computers revealed between 150 to 300 images of child pornography. Some of the images depicted children under the age of twelve engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On the video camera, examiners discovered a tape showing ALTON placing the camera in a concealed space in the bathroom of the home. The camera captures a young female undressing for a shower, and then stepping from the shower. The camera then records ALTON coming in to remove the recording device from its hidden location.

ALTON was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

This case was investigated by the Kelso Police Department and the FBI. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Dion.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.