The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on April 23, 2013, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, ROY ALEXANDER BRIGGS, a 35-year-old resident of Helena, pled guilty to possession of child pornography. Sentencing has been set for July 30, 2013. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno B. Baucus, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In July 2012, the United States Marshal Service (USMS) received information that BRIGGS, who had previously been convicted in 2005 for possession of child pornography in the Western District of Washington, had absconded and was currently residing in Helena.
On July 17, 2012, the USMS arrested BRIGGS for violating the terms of his supervision which included having direct contact with a computer device, possession of visual images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and changing his place of residence and employment without notifying his probation officer. Following his arrest, BRIGGS admitted that a computer found at the residence was his and that it contained visual depictions of children engaged in sexually explicit activity.
On July 18, 2012, members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) were alerted that BRIGGS' computer may contain visual depictions of children engaged in sexually explicit activity.
The computer was forensically analyzed and found to contain multiple image files which depicted children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
BRIGGS faces possible penalties of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the United States Marshals Service and the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
