Oakdale Man Indicted for Receiving, Distributing, Possessing Child Pornography

MINNEAPOLIS—An indictment unsealed early this morning charges a 50-year-old Oakdale man with receiving, distributing, and possessing child pornography. The indictment, filed on August 17, 2011, charges Brian Gene Montgomery with three counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of distributing child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. The indictment was unsealed following Montgomery’s initial appearance late yesterday afternoon in federal court.

The indictment alleges that Montgomery received images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct on November 17, 2010, and received a video containing similar material on November 18, 2010. In addition, the indictment alleges that on February 23, 2011, Montgomery distributed an image containing similar conduct, and that on May 4, 2011, he possessed thousands of such images.

If convicted, Montgomery faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each receipt count and the distribution charge, as well as ten years on the possession charge. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Minnesota Cyber Crimes Task Force, which is sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura M. Provinzino and Kimberly A. Svendsen.

Presently, the Justice Department is funding a study concerning the correlation between involvement in child pornography and the hands-on sexual abuse of children. A 2008 study (The Butner Study) published in the Journal of Family Violence found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.

The U.S. Department of Justice is committed to combating the sexual exploitation of children, particularly via the Internet. In fiscal year 2010, 2,235 defendants pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges, 2,222 of whom were sentenced to prison. In fiscal year 2009, 2,083 defendants were sentenced to prison on child pornography charges. For more information about these efforts, please visit the Department’s Project Safe Childhood website, at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.