Reno Man Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Receipt Of Child Pornography

RENO, Nev. – A Reno resident was sentenced Monday to 60 months in prison for receipt of approximately 3,500 images and videos depicting child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Steven W. Myhre for the District of Nevada.

Scott Russell, 36, who pleaded guilty in June 2017 to one count of receipt of child pornography, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Larry R. Hicks. In addition to the prison term, Russell was sentenced to 30 years of supervised release and is required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration Notification Act.

According to his plea agreement, between April 27, 2015 and September 9, 2015, while conducting an online undercover operation, law enforcement identified a computer possessing and sharing child pornography using the peer-to-peer file sharing program BitTorrent. During the execution of a search warrant, the defendant admitted to using file sharing software to search for and download child pornography. During a forensic examination of the defendant’s laptop computer and other electronic devices, law enforcement found approximately 3,370 images and 76 videos depicting child pornography including children as young as infants. In addition, over 8,000 images of child erotica was found on portable flash drives owned by the defendant.

The case was investigated by the Northern Nevada Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which includes the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI), the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon M. Bryant.

This case was 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood and for information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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