Bozeman Man Sentenced in Missoula to Seven Years in Prison for Receipt of Child Porn

MISSOULA – Anthony Dane Roberty, 54, of Bozeman, Montana, was sentenced today to 84 months incarceration followed by 15 years supervised release, for receipt of child pornography.  Chief U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen sentenced Roberty following a July 16, 2015, hearing held before U.S. Magistrate Jeremiah Lynch, in which Roberty pleaded guilty to the offense.  The sentence will run concurrently with state sentences Roberty is serving for felony DUI.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Montana Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee Peterson, the government stated that if the case had proceeded to trial, the government would have proven that in March 2014, an FBI agent downloaded files depicting child pornography as part of an online investigation to identify individuals trafficking in child pornography using BitTorrent.  The IP address for the downloaded files was connected to Roberty’s residence.  The agent obtained a search warrant and conducted a search of Roberty’s residence in September of 2014.  Roberty was interviewed on the day of the search and admitted he used BitTorrent and that agents would find child pornography on his computer and an external hard drive.

A computer and portable hard drive seized from Roberty’s residence were found to contain child pornography.  A forensic examiner determined that the computer contained BitTorrent client software and had been used to send and receive files using BitTorrent.  The examiner discovered numerous graphics depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sexual conduct between children and adults.  The examiner also found video files that depicted child pornography.  The files were created between February and April of 2014.

“Once again, our partnerships with state and federal law enforcement agencies have given us the resources to track down consumers and distributors of child porn,” said Montana U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter.  “By working together under the Department’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, we help keep children from being victimized by these types of predatory criminals.”  David A. Thompson, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Denver stated: “this significant prison sentence reflects the serious criminal nature of child exploitation, and the resulting permanent trauma inflicted on its young and helpless victims.  Our HSI special agents are trained to identify, investigate and pursue prosecution against these child predators, and rescue their victims – and we take that responsibility very seriously.”

This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.  Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation.  It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.  The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.  Investigative agencies involved in the case included the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation and the Bozeman Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Cyndee Peterson prosecuted this case.