Press Release
FORMER BROWARD SCHOOL TEACHER SENTENCED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
August 24, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that United States District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley sentenced defendant Michael Postma to 210 months' imprisonment, followed by a term of life on supervised release, for distribution of child pornography.
Postma was arrested on March 26, 2007 after the execution of a federal search warrant. Postma came to the attention of local law enforcement officials as a result of sexually explicit email conversation Postma was having with someone Postma believed to be a fourteen year old boy from New Hampshire. In reality, Postma was communicating with an undercover detective from the Keene, New Hampshire Police Department. During the course of these sexually explicit emails, which lasted approximately three months, Postma sent child pornography to the detective on four separate occasions. Subsequent investigation established the location and identifying features of the computer being used to communicate with the undercover detective. Once it was determined the individual communicating with the undercover detective was located in Plantation, Florida, the Keene Police Department delivered the information to the Plantation Police Department, which then contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was coordinated between the FBI, the Plantation Police Department, and the Broward County State Attorney's Office.
Upon the execution of a search warrant, law enforcement officials seized the computers in Postma's residence. A forensic examination on the computers confirmed that Postma was the individual communicating with the undercover detective. Further examination revealed the presence of nearly 100,000 images of child pornography on Postma's computer hard drive.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Keene (NH) Police Department, and the Plantation Police Department. U.S. Attorney Acosta also thanked Michael J. Satz, Broward County State Attorney, for his office's cooperation and assistance. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Brown.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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