United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced the sentencing last week of DOUGLAS LUKE ROBINETTE, 27, to 360 months in federal prison. ROBINETTE was indicted on April 9, 2013, and pleaded guilty to one count of Production of Child Pornography on November 8, 2013. He was sentenced on July 28, 2014, by United States District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis.

“Distributing child pornography re-victimizes the children in these cases,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Lola Velazquez-Aguilu. “The defendant in this case sexually assaulted a young boy, digitally recorded the assaults, and e-mailed the images, virtually guaranteeing that they will forever exist in cyberspace. We hope that this sentence sends a strong message to others who trade in images of sexual violence against children.”

According to documents filed in court, ROBINETTE was convicted on November 11, 2010, of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in Kanabec County, Minnesota. He was sentenced to a 144-month state prison sentence. After ROBINETTE’S conviction in Kanabec County, the United States Attorney’s Office investigated and prosecuted the defendant for the production of child pornography.

According to his guilty plea in federal court, ROBINETTE induced a developmentally delayed boy to engage in sexually explicit conduct, which the defendant recorded on his cell phone. ROBINETTE further admitted to engaging in sexual contact with the boy on several occasions, and producing and distributing images of the sexual contact.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (“PSC”), 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 U.S. Attorney offices and the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab “resources.”

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lola Velazquez-Aguilu.

U.S. Attorney Luger thanked the Kanabec County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Minnesota Child Exploitation Task Force, which is sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Defendant Information:

• DOUGLAS LUKE ROBINETTE
• D.O.B. 5/5/1986
• St. Paul, MN

Convicted:

• Production of Child Pornography, Felony

Sentenced:

• 360 Months in Custody of the Bureau of Prisons
• Supervised Release for a term of life