Michele Beckwith Acting U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California
Paul Hughes, a 42-year-old resident of Colfax, has been sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith.
Court documents reveal that between September 2018 and June 2019, Hughes created visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on three separate occasions. He used a cellphone to secretly record at least three videos containing child sexual abuse material, which he saved on an external hard drive. Agents also found more than 3,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse material on Hughes’s external hard drive and Google account.
Additionally, authorities discovered hundreds of videos and photographs taken by Hughes featuring females aged five to 55 in various public venues in Colfax. In these images, Hughes attempted to capture private parts by angling the camera upwards towards the subjects' groin areas.
“This defendant preyed on the most innocent and vulnerable members of our society—children,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Beckwith. “Keeping children safe from sexual exploitation is a top priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to investigate the perpetrators of these heinous crimes and bring them to justice.”
“Paul Hughes exploited children, forever damaging the memories of their childhood,” said FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel. “The FBI has no tolerance for any adult who preys upon the innocence of children and anyone who exploits a child faces severe consequences for their actions.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise N. Yasinow is prosecuting.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices along with the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate offenders who exploit children while identifying victims for rescue efforts.
For further information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc under the "resources" tab for internet-safety education details.
