Spokane–Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Ian Christopher Evans, age 31, of Orville, Washington, was sentenced on February 28, 2017, after having previously pleaded guilty on December 1, 2016 to Distribution of Child Pornography. Senior United States District Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen sentenced Evans to a five-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by a ten-year term of court supervision after he is released from Federal prison. In addition, Evans agreed to abandon to the United States the laptop computer he used to distribute and store his child pornography collection.
According to information disclosed during the court proceedings, in April of 2013, an officer working undercover for the Spokane County Sheriff's Office discovered that Evans was using peer to peer file sharing to distribute images of child pornography. With the assistance of agents from Homeland Security, a federal search warrant was executed on December 13, 2013 at Evans residence in Oroville, Washington. Law enforcement officers discovered Evan’s Compaq laptop computer contained approximately 87 videos and 15 images of child pornography.
Michael C. Ormsby stated, “I commend the law enforcement officers with Homeland Security and Spokane County Sheriff's Office who worked on this case. Their seamless partnership resulted in the successful outcome in this matter. The United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Washington is, and will continue to be, committed to prosecuting aggressively and seeking appropriate punishment for child pornography crimes. Prosecuting offenders who distribute child pornography is a priority of the United States Attorney’s Office.”
This case was pursued as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the United States 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. The Project Safe Childhood Initiative (“PSC”) has five major components:
• Integrated federal, state, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases, and to identify and rescue children;
• Participation of PSC partners in coordinated national initiatives;
• Increased federal enforcement in child pornography and enticement cases;
• Training of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents; and
• Community awareness and educational programs.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
This investigation was conducted the Homeland Security and the Spokane County Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Stephanie J. Lister, an Assistant United States Attorney and PSC Coordinator for the Eastern District of Washington.