North Dakota repeat offender sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography
FARGO, N.D. — An eastern North Dakota man, who had been convicted in 2007 of possessing child pornography, was sentenced in federal court Monday to 16 years in prison for similar crimes.
This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI), the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Police Department, and the Grand Forks Sheriff’s Department.
Alan Douglas Eslinger, 44, of Grand Forks, was sentenced to 192 months in federal prison following his convictions on one count of receiving child pornography and three counts of possessing child pornography. He was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term, and he must pay a $400 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund.
"Child pornography exists as a permanent record of the sexual exploitation of a child, and this victimization continues every time that image is transmitted, downloaded, shared or viewed," said William Lowder, acting special agent in charge of HSI St. Paul. "HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners take special pride in seeking justice on behalf of those children who have been sexually exploited and victimized.”
This case came to the attention of law enforcement after a BCI agent, assigned to an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), discovered a computer operating in North Dakota that was sharing child pornography via a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. HSI special agents traced the Internet Protocol address to a garage, rented by Eslinger, in a Grand Forks industrial park.
Authorities executed a search warrant for the garage and seized electronic media, which contained more than 12,000 images and 900 videos of child pornography.
This was Eslinger’s second child pornography-related conviction. In 2007, Eslinger was dishonorably discharged from the Army after he was court martialed for possessing child pornography in 2001.
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 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.
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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.
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.
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