LAS VEGAS, Nev. - A Las Vegas man who possessed over 1,400 images of child pornography on his home computers, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and lifetime supervised release, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
Steven Byington, 69, who was convicted by a jury on June 20, 2013, of one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, was sentenced on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, by U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro.
“The penalties for this type of crime are very high, particularly when large amounts of pornography are received," said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “We will aggressively prosecute the persons who victimize children through these horrible crimes."
According to court records and evidence introduced at trial, in May 2010, Special Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) determined that Byington had made child pornography available for download through an Internet file sharing site. Agents executed a federal search warrant at Byington’s home in Las Vegas on Nov. 16, 2010, and seized four computers, external hard drives, and computer storage devices. A forensic analysis determined that the computers and equipment contained over 1,400 images, including 13 videos, of child pornography. The pornography included depictions of prepubescent minors, bondage, bestiality, and adult sexual penetration of minors.
The investigation was conducted by ICE-HSI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Susan Cushman and Daniel R. Schiess.
The case has been brought as 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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal
Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal,
state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually
exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project
Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet
safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
