HONOLULU—Ray K. Yokoyama, age 54, formerly of Pearl City, Hawaii, was sentenced in federal court today to 350 months in prison for producing images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and making them available over the Internet. United States District Judge Derrick K. Watson also ordered that Yokoyama register as a sex offender, and undergo a lifetime of supervised release following service of his prison term.

Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to information produced to the court, Yokoyama (1) produced child pornography using a minor on two occasions in 2009, (2) distributed child pornography over an Internet file-sharing network in July 2012, and (3) possessed child pornography in January 2013. According to an affidavit filed on January 18, 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation initiated an investigation after an undercover agent in Dallas, Texas downloaded child pornography from a computer in Hawaii. Agents traced the computer’s Internet Protocol address to Yokoyama’s home in Pearl City, and executed a search warrant for the residence. Agents recovered computer storage media, including a disk that contained images of a minor boy engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

During later court proceedings, Yokoyama admitted taking pictures of a minor boy engaged in sexually explicit conduct. According to information provided in court, the boy was approximately nine years old at the time. Images of the boy were later found in a folder in Yokoyama’s computer, which was available to the public over a file-sharing network.

In imposing today’s sentence, United States District Judge Derrick K. Watson observed that Yokoyama had prior criminal convictions, had once impersonated a law enforcement officer, and failed to accept responsibility for his conduct. Yokoyama has been detained at the Federal Detention Center since his arrest on January 18, 2013.

The case was investigated by the FBI, with support from Homeland Security Investigations, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Tong.