Week in Review—Hammond

HAMMOND, IN—The United States Attorney’s Office announced the following:

Complaint

Earl Russell Idle, 64, of Lafayette, Indiana, was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to produce images depicting a minor child engaging in sexually explicit conduct using a web camera which had been mailed, shipped, or transported in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce.

The investigation into Idle’s conduct began when law enforcement, working in an undercover capacity posing as a teenage girl online, was contacted by a person later identified as Idle. During the course of their communications, which spanned from August 2011 to January 2012, Idle asked for the child’s address so that he could send her a web camera, making clear that he sent the camera so the child could expose herself to him using it. Also during their discussions, Idle sent the child images and videos of children and adults engaging in sexually explicit conduct to convince her to use the camera.

Idle is currently awaiting sentencing on possession of child pornography charges in Tippecanoe County stemming from child pornography found on a computer which was seized by law enforcement prior to August 2011.

This case resulted from an investigation by members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, including U.S. Immigration and Custom Office of Homeland Security Investigations; with assistance from the Lafayette Police Department; the King County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York; and the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor’s Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jill Koster.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Robert Rivers, 44, of Flora, Indiana, was charged in a criminal complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Following execution of a federal search warrant on Rivers’ residence in Flora, Carroll County, Indiana, ATF recovered a shotgun and a pistol from Rivers’ residence. Flora admitted that the shotgun belonged to him. Flora has at least six prior felony convictions, including felony convictions for burglary, theft, invasion of privacy, intimidation, battery, and operating a vehicle after life suspension. Rivers has been detained pending a detention hearing. This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with the assistance of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, Flora Police Department, Tippecanoe County Police Department, and Lafayette Police Department. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean Lanter.

The United States Attorney’s Office emphasized that a complaint is merely an allegation and that all persons charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

The specific sentence in each case to be imposed upon conviction will be determined by the judge after a consideration of federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Dispositions

Deonte Land, 18, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced by Chief Judge Philip Simon to 15 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the felony offense of possession with the intent to distribute heroin. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation GRIT Task Force and the Indiana State Police. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jacqueline Jacobs.