Idaho Falls Man Sentenced to Over Five Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

 POCATELLO – Arnulfo Gonzales-Torres, 23, of Idaho Falls, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 63 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also ordered Gonzales-Torres to serve 15 years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Gonzales-Torres pleaded guilty to the charge on February 25, 2020.

According to court records, between May and July 2019, a detective with the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force downloaded several files of child pornography that were made available by Gonzales-Torres’ computer via a peer-to-peer network. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Gonzales-Torres’ Idaho Falls residence. ICAC Task Force members executed the search warrant and seized a desktop computer from Gonzales-Torres’ residence. A forensic examination of this device revealed approximately 1,251 images and 15 videos of child pornography. Gonzales-Torres admitted to detectives that he had downloaded and viewed child pornography through a peer-to-peer network and had stored child pornography on his computer.

Chief Judge Nye also ordered Gonzales-Torres to pay $6,000 in restitution to the victims in the images that he possessed. As a result of his conviction, Gonzales-Torres will be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations in Idaho Falls, Idaho Falls Police Department, Rexburg Police Department, and Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.

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. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal 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, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”