GREAT FALLS - The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on May 29, 2018, before U.S. District Judge Brian Morris, TIMOTHY ALLEN WEAVER, a 36-year-old resident of Dearborn, Montana, was sentenced to a term of:
•Prison: 500 months
•Special Assessment: $300
•Restitution: $3,000
•Forfeiture: computer, tablet and cell phone
•Supervised Release: lifetime
WEAVER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to two counts of sexual exploitation of children (production of child pornography) and one count of receipt of child pornography. WEAVER sexually exploited a child in Montana, and victimized other children outside of Montana through the images he received via the internet.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In August 2016, the Cascade County Sheriff’s office was conducting a criminal investigation, and Defendant Timothy Weaver’s residence in Cascade, Montana, was searched pursuant to a search warrant. Items were seized including an eMachines computer, a Polaroid Tablet, and a Microsoft cellular telephone. The items were submitted for forensic analysis and review. The examiner located files that depicted children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The child pornography files include images of WEAVER engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a child. In addition to those images, WEAVER possessed images of other children engaged in sexually explicit conduct and that WEAVER received those images between 2010 and 2016.
In its Sentencing Memorandum, the United States stated that Weaver engaged in a repeated pattern, covering a period of approximately five years, of sexual exploitation of a child. He violently abused the child victim multiple times per week, including choking. During the abuse and humiliation, the victim would close her eyes and cry.
This case was a cooperative effort between the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office and the Homeland Security Investigations. Both agencies are members of the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
“The efforts of the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office in promptly searching Weaver’s residence and then requesting the assistance of the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and HSI have not only rescued this child from Weaver’s on-going abuse but it also protected other children from victimization." said U.S. Attorney Kurt G. Alme.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that Weaver will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, Weaver does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
