Submitted by Fox First at Ten on July 25th
Department Of Justice Press Release:
SPOKANE, Wash. – Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Scott J. Martin, age 48, of Wenatchee, Washington, has been sentenced to a 15 term of imprisonment for the Production of Child Pornography/Use of a Child to Transmit Live Images of Abuse.
Upon release from custody, Martin will be under court supervision for an additional 15 years. Martin previously pleaded guilty in Chelan County Superior Court to state child sexual abuse charges stemming from this investigation.
On August 12, 2010, Special Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) /Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with officers from the Wenatchee PoliceDepartment, executed a federal search warrant at Scott J. Martin's residence in Wenatchee, Washington. The search warrant was obtained in response to evidence seized in North Dakota showing that Martin had been transmitting sexually explicit movies of a child, live via a web cam, to an internet group connected with the production and live transmission of images involving child sexual abuse and exploitation.
The Special Agents in this case identified the child-victim in Martin's transmissions and were able to remove the six-year-old child from any further contact with him. The Special Agents interviewed Martin who confessed to transmitting the live sexually explicit images of the victim and to being a member of the internet group that encouraged the live production of childpornography.
Michael C. Ormsby stated, "Law enforcement officers in the Eastern District ofWashington are committed to investigating and uncovering child pornography crimes and this Office remains committed to prosecuting and seeking appropriate punishment for suchcrimes. This case was particularly troubling given the victim's tender age and the use oflive transmissions over the internet."
This case was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative. In February2006, the United States Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, anationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.
Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state,and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit
children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. To report these crimes, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's hotline at1-800-843-5678.
This case was investigated by the ICE/HSI in partnership with the Wenatchee Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Stephanie A. Van Marter, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
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