A Great Falls man who admitted to downloading child pornography to his cellular phone was sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
John Douglas Woodcock, 41, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to receipt of child pornography.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris ordered Woodcock to pay $36,000 restitution to victims.
The government alleged in court documents that Woodcock knowingly received child pornography from April 2019 to December 2019, when officers with the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving a suspect in Cascade County downloading child pornography. An investigation led to Woodcock as the subscriber of the internet provider address associated with the tip. Officers searched Woodcock’s residence and seized his cell phone. Woodcock admitted that he had been downloading child pornography for the past year and had done so the day he was interviewed. Officers located more than 1,000 child pornography images and video files on Woodcock’s cell phone.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Great Falls Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.
