Child Porn Possessor Sentenced to Ten Years

EUGENE, OR—Matthew Wayne Keener, 48, was sentenced today by U.S. Chief District Judge Ann L. Aiken to serve 120 months in prison for his possession of child pornography. Keener was also ordered to serve a ten year term of supervised release following release from prison. During his supervised release he must abide by a number of conditions which include sex offender assessment and treatment, sex offender registration, and restricted access to computers and the Internet.

Keener pleaded guilty on December 17, 2010, to one count of possession of child pornography. In pleading guilty, Keener admitted that on March 25, 2009, he possessed 29 videos of actual minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He also admitted that the offense involved (1) an actual prepubescent minor or an actual minor under the age of twelve years, (2) the distribution of pornographic images in exchange for the receipt of pornographic images, (3) material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct and other depictions of violence, and (4) 2,175 images of child pornography. He also admitted that the offense resulted from his use of a computer. All these facts served to enhance his sentence.

His ten year federal sentence was imposed to run concurrent to a sentence he is serving in the state of Utah for sexual abuse of a child in the 7th Judicial District Court for San Juan County, Utah. The child pornography in the federal case was found when the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed an arrest warrant for Keener in the Utah case while he was living at 679 Commercial Street in Monroe, Oregon.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean B. Hoar handled the prosecution of the case.

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.