FARGO - U. S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers announced that on Dec. 14, 2015, Alan Douglas Eslinger, 44, Grand Forks, North Dakota, was sentenced before U. S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to serve 16 years in prison for one count of Receipt of Child Pornography and three counts of Possession of Child Pornography. Judge Erickson also sentenced Eslinger to serve a lifetime of supervised release and pay a $400 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund.
This case came to the attention of law enforcement after an agent with the North Dakota Bureau of Investigations, assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), discovered a computer geographically located in ND that was sharing child pornography in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Homeland Security Investigators traced the IP address to an industrial park located in northeast Grand Forks, ND. Working with the network administrator of the industrial park, BCI agents were able to pinpoint the specific location in the industrial park where Eslinger was operating his computer. Based upon this evidence, BCI Special Agents obtained and executed a search warrant for a garage leased by Eslinger in the industrial park. Seized as a result of the search warrant were various electronic media which contained more than 12,000 images and 900 videos of child pornography.
"Child pornography exists as a permanent record of the sexual exploitation of a child, and this victimization continues every time that image is transmitted, downloaded, shared or viewed," said William Lowder, acting special agent in charge of HSI St. Paul. "HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners take special pride in seeking justice on behalf of those children who have been sexually exploited and victimized."
This was Eslinger’s second conviction for possessing child pornography. In 2007, Eslinger was dishonorably discharged from the Army after he was court martialed for possessing child pornography in 2001.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Grand Forks Police Department, and the Grand Forks Sheriff’s Department.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl prosecuted the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the nation, Project Safe Childhood, in conjunction with Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), help federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders who use the Internet, online communications systems, or computer technology to sexually exploit children. The ICAC Program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces engaging in proactive investigations, forensic investigations, and criminal prosecutions. Project Safe Childhood also helps to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
