Montana man sentenced to 7 years in prison for receiving child pornography
MISSOULA, Mont. — A Montana man was sentenced Thursday to seven years in federal prison followed by 15 years supervised release, for receiving child pornography.
The following agencies investigated this case: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Bozeman (Montana) Police Department.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen sentenced Anthony Dane Roberty, 54, of Bozeman, Montana, following a July 16 hearing in which Roberty pleaded guilty to the offense. The sentence will run concurrently with state sentences Roberty is also serving for felony DUI.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Montana Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee Peterson, the government stated that if the case had proceeded to trial, it would have proven that in March 2014, an FBI special agent downloaded files depicting child pornography as part of an online investigation to identify individuals trafficking in child pornography using BitTorrent. The Internet Protocol address for the downloaded files was connected to Roberty’s residence. The special agent obtained a search warrant and conducted a search of Roberty’s residence in September 2014. Roberty was interviewed on the day of the search and admitted he used BitTorrent and that agents would find child pornography on his computer and an external hard drive.
A computer and portable hard drive seized from Roberty’s residence were found to contain child pornography. A forensic examiner determined that the computer contained BitTorrent client software and had been used to send and receive files using BitTorrent. The examiner discovered numerous graphic images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sexual conduct between children and adults. The examiner also found video files that depicted child pornography. These files were created between February and April 2014.
“Once again, our partnerships with state and federal law enforcement agencies have given us the resources to track down consumers and distributors of child porn,” said Montana U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter. “By working together under the [Justice] Department’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, we help keep children from being victimized by these types of predatory criminals.”
David A. Thompson, special agent in charge of HSI in Denver stated: “This significant prison sentence reflects the serious criminal nature of child sexual exploitation, and the resulting permanent trauma inflicted on its young and helpless victims. Our HSI special agents are trained to identify, investigate and pursue prosecution against these child predators, and rescue their victims — and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee Peterson, District of Montana, prosecuted this case.
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 12,000 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 2014, 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 tollfree 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator’s 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.
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