Caldwell Man Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

BOISE – Brien J. Sanders, 40, of Caldwell, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court to 78 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.  Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge ordered that Sanders be placed on supervised release for five years following his prison sentence.  Sanders pleaded guilty on April 3, 2019.

According to court records, in April 2018, an FBI agent downloaded 27 videos depicting child pornography that were made available by Sanders’ computer via a peer-to-peer network.  A federal magistrate judge issued a search warrant for Sanders’ residence in Caldwell.  Based on this information, agents with the FBI and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) served the warrant.  A forensic examination of Sanders’ computers and hard drives revealed approximately 600 videos and 350 images depicting child pornography.  Sanders admitted to agents that he possessed child pornography on his computers and hard drives.  He admitted he obtained the child pornography through a peer-to-peer network.

Judge Lodge also ordered Sanders to forfeit the computers and hard drives used in the offense, to pay a total of $21,000 to victims depicted in the images he possessed, and to pay a $5,100 special assessment.  As a result of his conviction, Sanders will be required to register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Idaho ICAC Task Force, and 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.  As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

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

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab

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