Fresno County Men Sentenced on Child Pornography Charges

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that two defendants in separate cases were sentenced today for child pornography offenses. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri prosecuted both cases.

U.S. v. Montoya:

In the first case, Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced Jimmie Joe Montoya, 59, of Clovis, to nearly four years and nine months in prison for possession of material depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Following his prison term, Montoya will serve 15 years of supervised release. According to court documents, Montoya possessed on his computer more than 600 images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Many of the minors depicted were prepubescent.

This case was the result of Operation Direct Connect, an extensive series of investigations by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. The Fresno Police Department also investigated this case.

U.S. v. Green:

In the second case, Judge Ishii sentenced Edward Joseph Green, 44, of Fresno, to seven years in prison for receiving visual depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Following his prison term, Green will serve 15 years of supervised release. According to court documents, Green received on his computer more than 600 images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The images and videos also involved the portrayal of sadistic, masochistic, and other depictions of violence, and many were of prepubescent minors.

This case was the result of an extensive investigation by the FBI, the Fresno Police Department, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department.

Both cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.