Registered sex offender sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography

TAMPA, Fla. — A registered sex offender from North Port, Fla., was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison Wednesday for distribution of child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Timothy Geenen, 31, was also ordered to a lifetime of supervised release and to forfeit his computer equipment.

Geenen pled guilty on April 15, 2010. According to court documents, on or about Oct. 20, 2005, Geenen sent eight e-mail messages that contained child pornography to an individual in Minnesota. A criminal history check on Geenen revealed that he was arrested in September 2002, by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation for sexual exploitation of a child and sexual exploitation of children.

Geenen was convicted of six counts of sexual exploitation of children and was sentenced to a minimum of two years, up to six years incarceration in Wyoming. Records indicate that he was released from prison on parole in July 2005 and registered as a sex offender in Florida shortly thereafter. Less than three months after being released from prison, he possessed numerous images of child pornography and distributed child pornography via e-mail.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacie B. Harris.

The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.