DENVER - Allen LeRoy Simons, III, age 36, of El Paso County was sentenced on Jan. 25, 2017 by U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martinez to serve 204 months (17 years) in federal prison for possession of child pornography, followed by 30 years on supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Denver Division Acting Special Agent in Charge John Eisert, and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Commander for Colorado Lieutenant Christina Sheppard of the Colorado Springs Police Department announced.
Because Simons served three years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, Judge Martinez gave the defendant credit for 36 months (3 years), reducing the federal sentence to 168 months (14 years) in federal prison. In addition, the judge ordered the defendant to pay $27,000 in restitution payable to victims whose pictures was actively traded by the defendant with other like-minded individuals.
Simons was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 3, 2016. He pled guilty on Aug. 1, 2016, and was sentenced on Jan. 25, 2017. At the time he was indicted by the federal grand jury, the defendant was on state probation for the sexual exploitation of a child.
According to court documents, including the stipulated facts in the defendant’s plea agreement, the defendant traded thousands of child pornography images via email. He also graphically discussed the sexual abuse of children in these emails. Law enforcement determined that Simons had over well over 10,000 images and videos of child pornography.
During sentencing, Judge Martinez noted the lengthy prison sentence was due to Simons large collection of child pornography, the fact that he had collected these images for a number of years, and that he took steps to hide his involvement. The defendant used a Play Station 3 to access the internet and trade child pornography, hiding his illegal conduct from state probation and other authorities.
This case was investigated by the Colorado Springs Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Simons was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Valeria Spencer.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
