FARGO - U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on April 1, 2013, Christopher Emly of Carrington, N.D., was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson on charges of possession and receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
Judge Erickson sentenced Emly to 19 years’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Emly was ordered to pay a $400 special assessment to the Crime Victim's Fund. Restitution will be determined at a later date.
Emly, 25, was found guilty by a 12-person jury on Nov. 13, 2012, of one count of receipt of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors and three counts of possession of materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Judge Erickson presided over the five-day trial.
The case came to the attention of law enforcement after a North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent downloaded child pornography files from a computer utilizing an internet protocol (IP) address originating in Carrington, N.D. The IP address was assigned to Emly’s residence which was eventually searched by law enforcement pursuant to a state search warrant.
During the search, state and federal agents recovered numerous electronic media containing hundreds of files depicting the graphic sexual abuse of children, including images depicting children as young as one and two years old.
The incidents occurred from October 2010 through Nov. 9, 2010, in the District of North Dakota.
The case was investigated by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl and Nick Chase prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
