Montana trial jury convicts South Carolina man for advertising child pornography on web-based bulletin board

MISSOULA, Mont. — A South Carolina man was convicted Thursday for his role in an international child pornography web-based bulletin board, which was targeted by state and federal investigators and prosecutors.

This investigation, referred to as Operation Moon Runner, is an ongoing cooperative effort among the following agencies: the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, Montana Department of Criminal Investigations, Helena and Polson (Montana) police departments, Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Northumbria Police Department in the United Kingdom.

The trial was presided over by the Honorable Dana L. Christensen in Missoula, Montana.

Daniel Brown, 26, of Taylor, South Carolina, was convicted Jan. 22 for his role in this child pornography scheme. Five defendants previously pleaded guilty for their role in the conspiracy in October, 2014. Six additional defendants filed their notice to plead guilty in January 2015.

According to court documents, the board was created in September, 2011 and specialized in the advertising, distributing and receiving child pornography. The board was broken-up into subforums where members were required to post images that corresponded to specific child pornography studios. The rules of the board required members to post images of minor females once every certain number of weeks. Failure to post images within the required time period resulted in suspension from the board. The board permitted members to leave comments and to request more images of child pornography from board members.

Trial Attorney Maureen C. Cain of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson of the District of Montana prosecuted 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 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.