BOISE – Nickolas James Parnell, 37, of Garden City, Idaho, was arrested yesterday in Garden City on a three-count federal indictment in the District of Idaho charging him with transportation of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and access with intent to view child pornography. A federal grand jury sitting in Boise returned the indictment on February 14, 2017. Parnell made his initial appearance this morning at the federal courthouse in Boise, Idaho and pleaded not guilty. Trial in this case is scheduled for April 24, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
According to allegations in the indictment, between August 1, 2014 and May 12, 2016, Parnell transported child pornography to the District of Idaho, and possessed and accessed with intent to view child pornography using two laptop computers and two DVDs containing digital files.
An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Transportation of child pornography carries not less than five, and up to twenty years of imprisonment. Possession and access with intent to view child pornography carries up to twenty years of imprisonment. All three crimes also carry not less than five years, and up to a lifetime term of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and a $5,100 special assessment.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Garden City Police Department and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The 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, 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.”