FARGO, N.D. - A Minnesota man was sentenced to 10 years in prison today for possessing child pornography, the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the police departments in Detroit Lakes and Moorhead, Minn.

Daniel Shern, 44, of Moorhead, Minn., pleaded guilty Oct. 23 to possessing thousands of computer files containing depictions of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  Today, U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson sentenced Shern to 10 years’ imprisonment to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.  Shern was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim's Fund.

“Possessing child pornography is a very serious crime,” said Michael Mach, resident agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in Grand Forks, ND. “Every time someone looks at one of these images, a child is victimized all over again.  ICE will continue to work in partnership with other law enforcement agencies to bring those who prey on children to justice.”

Assistant U. S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl, who prosecuted the case, said, “There is no gray area regarding the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to take a no tolerance approach towards individuals who exploit children.”

The investigation began in June 2005 when police officers in Detroit Lakes, Minn., stopped a vehicle driven by Schern.  One of the officers recognized Schern’s name from a newspaper article that reported he was wanted for failing to register in Minnesota as a sex offender.  The officer also determined that Shern’s driver’s license had been revoked and that the vehicle he was driving was registered to another person.

Schern was arrested for driving with a revoked license.  The arresting officers searched his vehicle and discovered several images of suspected child pornography, whereupon they stopped the search to seek a search warrant.  In the meantime, officers determined that Schern was convicted in 1994 of having sexual contact with a 7-year-old girl.  He was also wanted in Minnesota for failure to keep police informed of his whereabouts. 

Officers later obtained the search warrant authorizing them to search the vehicle.  They found images of child pornography in the trunk of the vehicle, along with images of Schern posing naked.

Police detectives in Moorhead obtained a search warrant for Schern’s residence and found computer-related items such as diskettes, computer images and CDs.  Notably missing was a computer.  Suspecting it was elsewhere, Moorhead detectives contacted Kimberly McMurtry, the owner of the vehicle Schern was driving when he was arrested.  McMurtry, who resided in Fargo, told detectives Schern was her boyfriend and that he had been living with her.  She also told officers that Schern kept his computer and related hardware at her residence and gave detectives permission to seize it.  A forensic examination of the computer and electronic media revealed more than 5,000 images of child pornography and erotica. 

This prosecution is part of Operation Predator, ICE’s comprehensive initiative to safeguard children from foreign national pedophiles, international sex tourists, Internet child pornographers, and human traffickers.  Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 9,359 individuals nationwide, including 28 in North Dakota.

To enhance efforts to protect children, ICE has formed partnerships with several non-governmental organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and World Vision’s child sex tourism prevention project, to provide prevention and deterrence information to the public.

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