Oregon trucker sentenced to 6 years for child pornography

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Salem, Ore., trucker was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison for transporting child pornography over the U.S.-Canada border.

Aaron Bruno Finn, 57, was arrested in 2012 by Canadian customs officials at the Beaver Creek, Yukon, border crossing on the Alaska Highway for importation of child pornography. According to court documents, Finn transported more than 600 images of child pornography on two laptop computers from the U.S. into Canada while driving his commercial tractor-trailer. Some of the images depicted sexual abuse of toddler-aged children.

Finn was convicted in a Yukon Territory court and sentenced to two years in Canadian prison. Following his release he was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) to face U.S. federal charges.

In addition to prison time, Finn must serve 15 years' supervised release, participate in sex offender treatment, register as a sex offender and he will be prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minors. As a consequence of Finn's illegal export of child pornography, HSI seized and administratively forfeited his tractor-trailer when it was released by Canadian authorities.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler commended HSI for its persistent dedication to rescuing child victims from sexual exploitation, and pursuing the sexual predators that harm children.

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 10,000 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 2013, 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.