Boise-area man pleads guilty to access with intent to view child pornography
BOISE, Idaho – A Nampa man pleaded guilty Aug. 16 to federal child pornography charges, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Troy A. Paul, 48, admitted viewing images of child pornography on a Russian photo sharing website several times between January and June 2014. Paul further admitted viewing child pornography emailed to him approximately 100 times using the iPhone assigned by his employer. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 9 before Senior U.S. District Edward J. Lodge.
According to the plea agreement, in March 2014, HSI special agents served a search warrant for the contents of Paul's email account and discovered emails containing images of child pornography. Paul was arrested in 2015.
"There is no excuse for people who prey on innocent children for self-gratification," said Steve Cagen, acting special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. "In collaboration with our law enforcement partners, we're continuing to uncover and halt the surreptitious actions of these predators to ensure safer communities for our youth."
The case was investigated in cooperation with the FBI and the Ada County Sheriff's Office.
The charges in this case are a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 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 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.
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