BISMARCK - US Attorney Christopher C. Myers announced that on June 21, 2016, Steven Edward Brooks, 50, Williston ND., was sentenced before US District Judge Daniel L. Hovland to serve 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of Receipt of Child Pornography. Judge Hovland also ordered that he serve 20 years of supervised release and to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund. Brooks was previously employed as a Sergeant as the Williams County Correctional Center.
“It’s always extremely troubling when someone in a position of public trust is convicted of child pornography offenses, especially so in the case of Mr. Brooks who was caught with such a large amount of material," said Alex Khu, special agent in charge of HSI St. Paul. “But HSI’s special agents are ever-vigilant and, with the help of our local and state partners, will aggressively pursue those who harm the children of our communities."
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. A search warrant was conducted on Brooks’ electronic media and a forensic examination revealed over 190,000 still images and almost 1600 videos containing child pornography.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
Assistant US Attorney Gary Delorme prosecuted this case 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
