GREAT FALLS - A Whitehall man suspected of downloading child pornography for approximately six years admitted charges on Feb. 16, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said today.
Tyler D. Pinnt, 35, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with receipt of child pornography. Pinnt faces a mandatory minimum five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, five years to a lifetime of supervised release and special assessments.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris set sentencing for May 19 and continued Pinnt’s release pending further proceedings. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The government alleged in court documents that Pinnt received child pornography from about March 2015 to July 2021. The Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was investigating Pinnt for online crimes against children and on July 13, 2021, served a search warrant on his residence near Whitehall. Agents seized several computers and cellular phones and conducted a forensic examination of the devices. At the time of the search, Pinnt admitted in an interview that he found child pornography online and that agents would locate child pornography on his laptop and desktop computers. Investigators located child pornography images and videos on Pinnt’s two phones and his computers and determined that Pinnt had downloaded the material between March 2015 and July 2021.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, FBI, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Helena Police Department and Seattle (Washington) Police Department Human Trafficking Unit.
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 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.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
