Spokane- Joseph H. Harrington, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Jesse Allen Shandy, of Burbank, Washington, was sentenced today after having previously pled guilty on Feb. 28, 2017 to production of child pornography. Senior United States District Judge Edward F. Shea sentenced Shandy to a 15-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a 22-year term of court supervision after he is released from federal prison. Shandy will also be required to register as a sex offender.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, an investigation began in September of 2015 when a concerned mother contacted local law enforcement officials in Michigan after finding explicit images of her eight-year-old child on a social networking application on the child’s phone. Further investigation revealed that the child had provided the images on the social networking application after being instructed to do so by another user on the application. The user represented himself to be a minor in the conversations with the eight-year-old child; however, a detective in Michigan subsequently identified the user to be 24-year-old Jesse Allen Shandy, of Burbank, Washington.
Officers with Homeland Security Investigations and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force located and contacted Shandy in Burbank, Washington. During the course of an interview with law enforcement officers, Shandy admitted that he had been communicating with multiple minor girls utilizing the social networking application Kik, and had represented himself to be a similarly aged boy in said communications. Shandy further advised that he obtained explicit images from the minor girls during the course of his communications.
Joseph H. Harrington said, “This case is a fine example of the great work that can be accomplished when state and federal law enforcement officers work together. Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to those who use social networking to send, receive, or produce child pornography - such crimes will be actively pursued by federal and state law enforcement officers. The United States Attorney’s Office will, in turn, aggressively prosecute child pornography crimes that occur in the Eastern District of Washington."
This case was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States 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. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC") has five major components:
• Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;
• Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;
• Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;
• Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and
• Community awareness and educational programs.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources."
Homeland Security Investigations, the Grand Rapids Police Department, and the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force conducted the investigation of this matter. The case was prosecuted by Laurel J. Holland, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
