EVANSVILLE, IN—United States Attorney Josh Minkler announced today that Richard Brandon Payne, 35, of Evansville, Indiana, was sentenced to 63 months (over five years) in federal prison by U.S. District Chief Judge Richard L. Young following his guilty plea to possession of child pornography. This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Violent Crimes Task Force and the Evansville Police Department.

On July 7, 2015, at the time of his guilty plea, Payne admitted opening a Google Drive account using his e-mail address and uploading child pornography images into his account. He used a software application to search for and save images of child pornography by using search terms including “kids” and “preteen.” Payne saved some of the sexually explicit images to his Google Drive data storage account.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Young imposed 10 years of supervised release following Payne’s release from prison. Payne must register as a sex offender, must not have unsupervised contact with minors, and also must participate in a sex offender treatment program while on supervision.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood. The Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood uses federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please see www.projectsafechildhood.gov.