John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JAMES RIPBERGER, 63, of Glastonbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 150 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for child exploitation offenses.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on Oct. 12, 2017, law enforcement officers conducted a search of Ripberger’s Glastonbury residence and seized computers and electronic storage devices. Analysis of the seized items revealed more than 2,200 images and videos of child pornography, more than 17,000 images of child erotica, and multiple images and videos of a minor victim who Ripberger surreptitiously recorded in various states of undress.
Ripberger has been detained since Dec. 15, 2017, when he was arrested on a federal criminal complaint. On Jan. 16, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography.
This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Glastonbury Police Department and the Connecticut Center for Digital Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
