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Press Release

Former Boise Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Idaho

BOISE – Nickolas James Parnell, 27, formerly of Boise, and currently residing in Medford, Oregon, pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court to possession of child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez announced.

 

According to the plea agreement, in May of 2016, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served a search warrant on Parnell’s residence in Boise, Idaho, based upon evidence that Parnell had used a computer to access child pornography. Two laptop computers and two DVDs belonging to Parnell were seized. When agents examined the laptops and DVDs, they discovered 2,190 still images and three videos containing child pornography. In February of 2017, agents served another search warrant on Parnell’s residence in Boise, Idaho, based upon evidence that he was in possession of additional videos containing child pornography. Agents seized a laptop computer, and a forensic search of the computer revealed 3,393 saved images of child pornography, 13 videos containing child pornography, and 3,077 deleted images containing child pornography. In all, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identified 290 still images and one video contained known child pornography victims from identified series of child pornography.

 

Sentencing is set for September 1, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill. Possession of child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not less than five years and up to life, and a $5,000 special assessment. As part of his plea, Parnell also agreed to forfeit the computers and electronic storage devices used in the commission of the charged offense.

 

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children 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. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals 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 “resources.”

Updated June 14, 2017

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Project Safe Childhood
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