Idaho man pleads guilty to child pornography charge

BOISE, Idaho — A Kuna man who chatted online about raping and torturing a child pleaded guilty Monday to receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography, following an undercover investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Ian Quincy Winn, 48, admitted in a plea agreement to receiving child pornography and engaging in online chats about child sex abuse with undercover HSI special agents. Court records state Winn engaged in chats with an undercover HSI special agent who was posing as a man with a 6-year-old niece. From October 2012 to July 2013, Winn spoke extensively about his interest in the torture, rape and murder of the 6-year-old child. He also asked the undercover HSI special agent for a photo of the 6-year-old performing a sex act.

In August 2013, investigators obtained a search warrant for Winn's home and seized several computers and electronic storage devices containing child pornography, including sexually explicit images of prepubescent girls. Winn confessed he had been conducting online searches for erotic and sexually explicit images of young girls for about three to four years.

The charge of receipt and attempted receipt of sexually explicit images of minors is punishable by five to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is set for June 30 before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Boise.

HSI Boise and HSI North Platte, Neb., investigated the case with the assistance of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Kuna Police Department. HSI and USPIS are members of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a statewide coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement and prosecution agencies, focused on apprehending and prosecuting individuals who use the Internet to criminally exploit children.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho is prosecuting the case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.