North Idaho man sentenced for possession of child pornography
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – A Moscow man was sentenced in federal court Oct. 11 to 63 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
James Dale Pressnall, 50, first came to the attention of HSI special agents between August and October 2015 when child pornography images were downloaded from a peer to peer network on a computer within his home.
In November 2015, HSI special agents executed a federal search warrant at Pressnall’s home. Upon arrival, agents determined Pressnall was not at the home and were able to track him to another location. Pressnall’s computer was seized and forensic analysis uncovered numerous sexually explicit images of minors from 24 states and 18 foreign countries.
Pressnall will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction. He will also be ordered to complete sex offender treatment following his sentence and is restricted from access to minors.
“The persistence of HSI Spokane coupled with the search warrant support provided by the Moscow Police Department were instrumental in cracking this case,” said Steve Cagen, acting special agent in charge of HSI Seattle. “When faced with unforeseen challenges our agents swiftly redirected their efforts to locate the suspect – just one example of our relentless pursuit to stop this crime and protect innocent children.”
The case was investigated in cooperation with the Moscow Police Department under the purview of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a statewide coalition of law enforcement and prosecution agencies focused on apprehending and prosecuting individuals who use the Internet to criminally exploit children.
The charges in this case are a product of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, and HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators.
Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
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.
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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