Colorado man sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for transporting and possessing child pornography

DENVER — A Colorado man was sentenced Tuesday to serve 35 years in federal prison for transporting and possessing child pornography. 

This federal prison sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Walsh, District of Colorado, and Special Agent in Charge David Thompson of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Following his prison sentence, Gregory Lynn Hopson, 44, of Westminster, Colorado, was ordered to serve a lifetime supervised release, and register as a sex offender. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis T. Babcock also ordered Hopson to pay restitution to the victim of his crime.  Hopson was remanded into custody at the conclusion of the hearing.

Hopson was indicted by a federal grand jury Oct. 24, 2012.  On Sept. 25, 2013, he was named in a superseding indictment.  On Sept. 29, 2014, Hopson pleaded guilty before Judge Babcock to transporting and possessing child pornography; he was sentenced Dec. 23.  Hopson is currently serving a state prison sentence of 16 years to life for his second violation of probation for sexually assaulting a child conviction out of Boulder County, Colorado.  The federal prison sentence is to run concurrently with the Colorado state prison sentence for the prior felony conviction for sexually assaulting a child by a person in a position of trust.

According to the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, on March 5, 2011, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at an address in Westminster.  A resident at the address in question was a registered sex offender, on probation for sexually assaulting a child by a person in a position of trust in 2000.  In that case the defendant had admitted sexually abusing two children under the age of 12.

During the search, HSI special agents seized a computer and CD-ROMs.  After un-encrypting the data, special agents found a well-organized collection of thousands of images and videos of child pornography.  The material depicted children as young as infants being sexually abused.  One of the CD-ROMs contained images and videos of a minor child under the age of 12 with whom Hopson was in a position of trust.  The images depicted Hopson engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the child or depicted the child's genitalia in a lewd and lascivious way.  It was further determined that Hopson exchanged child pornography with others.  HSI special agents uncovered about 300 emails that Hopson had sent or received; attached to those emails were about 1,700 images and videos of child pornography.

"Defendant Hopson, by his repeated acts of victimization and criminal conduct, has made clear that he poses a real and present danger to children and to society," said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.  "The sentence imposed today will neutralize this dangerous perpetrator for 35 years and is a true victory for the community and for Colorado's children."

"Insidious crimes like this steal the innocence and youth of our nation's children," said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell. "The Department of Justice is committed to investigating, prosecuting and incapacitating those who prey upon the most vulnerable members of our society."

This case was investigated by HSI.

Hopson was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Special Prosecutions Section, Judith A. Smith; Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth N. Gibson; and Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section Trial Attorney Keith Becker.

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 12,000 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 2014, 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.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.