Minnesota man pleads guilty to receiving child pornography

MINNEAPOLIS — A southern Minnesota man pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to receiving videos containing child pornography.

This guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Harold Duane Davenport, 47, of Le Center, Minn., who was indicted Nov. 5, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography.

In his plea agreement, Davenport admitted that between Sept. 16, 2009 and Feb. 6, 2010, he knowingly received visual depictions over the Internet that involved minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In addition, Davenport admitted that he possessed more than 600 images of child pornography, including images and videos portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.

For his crime, Davenport faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison.

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 1-866-347-2423 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, 1-800-843-5678.

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.