Central Florida man sentenced to more than 8 years for receiving and possessing child pornography

ORLANDO, Fla. – A central Florida man was sentenced on child pornography charges Tuesday. This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

Krister Kaj Vilen, 40, of Titusville, Fla., was sentenced to 98 months in federal prison for receiving and possessing child pornography. After he completes his prison sentence, he must serve 10 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. The court also ordered him to forfeit computers and electronic media he used to store child pornography.

According to court documents, between January and March, Vilen used peer-to-peer software to receive, possess and share images and movies depicting child pornography. Law enforcement officers searched Vilen's computers and found approximately 40 videos and 100 visual depictions of sexually abused children.

"This particular case is extremely disturbing because it involves a former New Orleans police detective," said Shane Folden, deputy special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. "Child predators prey on the weak and use positions of trust to commit their crimes. Homeland Security Investigations investigates child predators to the full extent of the law. We see that in this case; Vilen received significantly more time in prison than the minimum sentence dictates."

Vilen pleaded guilty June 19.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE 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, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.