July 30, 2007

Oregon delivery truck driver sentenced to ten years for possession of child pornography
International investigation leads to discovery of thousands of images of child pornography

PORTLAND, Ore. – A 41-year-old delivery truck driver from Beaverton, Ore., was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison on charges of unlawfully possessing child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.)

According to court documents, the German National Police Computer Crime Unit made contact with Mark Alan Snider during an undercover operation in March 2005 after downloading a video file from the defendant’s computer that showed a young girl being sexually abused by an adult male.  Further investigation showed that Snider used the file sharing software program KaZaA to trade thousands of images of child pornography over the Internet.

In March 2006, ICE agents executed a federal search warrant on Snider’s residence and seized several computers and thousands of images of child pornography, including images of girls as young as 5 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct and young girls being sexually abused by adults.   

"Investigating those who seek to victimize children is one of the most important responsibilities that ICE has," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge for ICE's Office of Investigations in Seattle. "ICE remains committed to protecting our children and communities from sexual predators."

“Those who download child pornography are helping to feed the illegal market for these images and are continuing to victimize children,” United States Attorney Karin Immergut stated.  “Hopefully, those involved in distributing, receiving, or possessing child pornography will hear the clear message sent by this case – we will continue to aggressively prosecute those involved in the sexual exploitation of children and at sentencing, we will continue to seek and receive significant prison sentences.”  

Snider’s ten-year prison sentence is the maximum allowed under federal statute for this type of crime.  In addition, he will subject to three years of supervised release following the completion of his prison term.

Agents from the German National Police and the Washington County (Oregon) Sheriff’s Office assisted ICE in the investigation of Snider.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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