LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Following a three-day jury trial, a Las Vegas man was found guilty of using a filing sharing network and the internet to receive and distribute sexually explicit images and videos of children, announced U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson of the District of Nevada.
Bret Alan Humphries, 60, was convicted of one count of receipt and/or distribution of child pornography. The jury trial was before U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon who scheduled a sentencing hearing on Nov. 15, 2018. Humphries faces the maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between October 4, 2011, and Aug. 30, 2012, Humphries used Shareaza, a peer-to-peer file sharing program, to receive and distribute child pornography. Federal task force agents executed a search warrant at his residence and seized 3 devices containing child pornography. After a forensic examination of the devices, law enforcement discovered 71 images and 120 video files depicting pre-pubescent children and toddlers engaged in sexually explicit conduct and being subjected to sado-masochistic sexual abuse. Computer forensics showed that Humphries had been using various file sharing networks to receive and view child pornography since at least 2006.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Burton and Elham Roohani are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood and for information about internet safety education, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
