Friday, November 30, 2007

Child porn possession leads to Aloha man’s prison sentence

A 42-year-old Aloha man was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison Tuesday for possessing thousands of child pornography images.

Frank Don Villa pled guilty July 30 to the charge of possession of child porn. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman handed down the sentence, saying it should send a message that possessing child pornography is a serious crime.

“It’s difficult to know what will deter someone in the future from surfing the net for pornography and then deviating into child pornography,” Mossman said. “I believe that it takes a serious sentence to send a message to the community, the kind of message that might work some conceivable benefit towards drying up the industry.”

Villa was arrested March 24, 2006, at Portland International Airport by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who found thousands of images of child pornography from the Internet on his computer. The pictures included a prepubescent minor or a minor under 12, as well as sadistic or masochistic material and other depictions of violence.

The investigation began after Villa’s girlfriend discovered images of child pornography on his computer and notified law enforcement authorities.

After he leaves prison, Villa faces three years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin prosecuted the case.

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