PORTLAND, Ore.—John James Shore, IV, 55, of Beaverton, Oregon, pleaded guilty today, March 4, 2020, to one count of distributing child pornography.

According to court documents, the government’s investigation revealed that Shore used BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing program, to acquire and distribute child pornography. The program allowed others to freely download Shore’s child pornography from his computer. Investigators from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office identified the Internet Protocol (IP) address for Shore’s home as a source of child pornography and downloaded 350 gigabytes of data from the address between February and July 2018.

In October 2018, FBI agents and task force officers executed a search warrant on Shore’s Beaverton home and seized a personal computer. During an interview shortly after the search, Shore admitted to downloading and watching child pornography.

Shore faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a life term of supervised release. He will be sentenced on June 8, 2020, before U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has recommended that Shore pay restitution in full to his victims as determined and ordered by the court at sentencing. Shore has agreed to forfeit the personal computer used to facilitate his crime.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at (503) 224-4181 or submit a tip online at https://tips.fbi.gov.

Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. It is important to remember these materials depict actual crimes being committed against children. Not only do these images and videos document victims’ exploitation and abuse, but when shared across the Internet, child victims suffer re-victimization each time the image of their abuse is viewed. To learn more, please visit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s website at: www.missingkids.org.

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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.