Former Cerro Coso Community College Instructor Sentenced to 6.5 Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

FRESNO, CA—Acting United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced today that Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced PAUL EDWARD MONK, 38, of Lake Isabella, today to six and a half years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation offices in Bakersfield, California and San Antonio, Texas.

According to Assistant United States Attorney David Gappa, who prosecuted the case, MONK admitted that on March 22, 2006, he possessed more than 600 images of child pornography on one or more computer hard drives. Some of the images were of prepubescent children and some depicted violence or sadistic abuse. A federal indictment against MONK was returned on October 9, 2008. At the time of his arrest, MONK was employed as an adjunct instructor in history and personal development at Cerro Coso Community College’s Kern River Valley campus in Lake Isabella. Court documents indicate that MONK used a PayPal account established in his name to purchase child pornography from a website on the Internet.

MONK has been in federal custody since pleading guilty on March 23, 2009.

The judge imposed a fine of $2,000 with half paid to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia. The court conducted a hearing on restitution and stated that it will order restitution to two victims whose images the defendant possessed, and the amount of restitution will be stated in a separate written decision.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.