Federal judge imposes lengthy sentence on east Tennessee woman after joint ICE HSI and ICAC child exploitation investigation
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville woman was sentenced to serve 30 years in federal prison for child exploitation involving an infant and a toddler.
The announcement was made yesterday by the acting U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Tennessee.
The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit (KPD-ICAC).
“Involving an infant and toddler in production of child exploitation material make this defendant’s crimes especially egregious and deserving of the lengthy prison sentence imposed,” said HSI Nashville Special Agent in Charge Jerry C. Templet, Jr. “It is imperative that we continue our efforts to protect vulnerable children from victimization and ensure the perpetrators are punished for their heinous actions.”
Breanna Cierra Sluder, 27, previously pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography. Documents on file with the court show that a federal search warrant was executed in January 2020 at Sluder’s home after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided information to the KPD-ICAC about images of child pornography being produced in Knoxville. Image and video files located during the investigation showed Sluder sexually victimizing an infant and a toddler.
Upon her release from prison, Sluder will be supervised by U.S. Probation for the remainder of her life and will be required to comply with special conditions of release for sex offenders. She will also be required to register with the sex offender registry in any state in which she resides, works, or attends school.
HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
Learn more about HSI’s mission @HSI_Nashville.
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