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May 20, 2008
Colorado man sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for possessing child porn
DENVER - A Colorado man was sentenced here last week to serve seven years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. U.S. Attorney Troy Eid, District of Colorado, made the announcement; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the investigation.
Edward Erekson, 41, of Arvada, Colo., was sentenced May 16 to serve 84 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Y. Daniel. Erekson was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 10, 2007; he pleaded guilty before Judge Daniel on Feb. 15. Erekson, who is free on bond, was ordered to report to a Bureau of Prisons facility after designation.
According to the stipulated facts outlined in the plea agreement, on Nov. 3, 2006, Erekson downloaded child pornography from a Google computer Internet group. A subsequent court-ordered search by an ICE computer forensic analyst determined that Erekson possessed more than 600 sexually explicit images of child pornography.
"These cases are prosecuted to protect our children from exploitation," said U.S. Attorney Troy Eid.
"Each of the children included in the 600 images seized from Edward Erekson is a helpless and innocent victim," said Jeffrey Copp, special agent in charge of the ICE office of Investigations in Denver. "As distasteful as the subject of child pornography is, our ICE agents derive great satisfaction from helping to ensure that justice is served. We hope these investigations and prosecutions serve some justice to the victims, and deter others who might consider creating, sharing or using child pornography." Copp oversees a four-state area which includes: Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roxane Perruso, District of Colorado.
This case was brought as part of "Project Safe Childhood." In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
This case was also investigated under Operation Predator, which is a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 11,000 individuals, including 290 in Colorado.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
-- ICE --
