FRESNO, Calif. - A long-time deputy for the Tulare County Sheriff's Department pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

John Albert Sickler, 41, of Merced, California, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii and agreed to a prison sentence of 96 months, followed by a term of supervised release of 120 months. Sickler will also be required to register as a sex offender.

As part of the plea agreement, Sickler admitted that from approximately May 4, 2003 through September 11, 2005, he used a computer and modem to receive visual images over the Internet depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. Some of the material depicted prepubescent minors engaged in sadistic or masochistic conduct or other violence. The investigation revealed that Sickler had purchased child pornography from numerous web sites using credit and debit cards and that he had received child pornography via a peer-to-peer file sharing program.

Sickler was employed as a deputy with the Tulare County Sheriff's Department from 1995 until he was arrested at his Visalia home in September 2005 by ICE agents. A search of Sickler's residence turned up numerous digital images and computer movie files of children, some believed to be as young as two or three years old, being sexually abused by adult men.

ICE was assisted in the Sickler investigation by the Fresno County Sheriff's Department Computer Crimes Unit; the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Computer Crimes Unit; the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department; and the Suffolk County (New York) Police Department. Officers with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, the Visalia Police Department, and the California Department of Justice assisted in Sickler's arrest.

Sickler will be sentenced on March 19, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. He faces a prison term of between five and 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000. He was taken into federal custody following his guilty plea today.

The investigation targeting Sickler began as the result of a lead provided by ICE's Cyber Crimes Center in Fairfax, Virginia. The Center is recognized worldwide as a leader in the investigation of international criminal activities conducted on or facilitated by the Internet, including crimes involving the possession, manufacture, and distribution of child pornography.

-- ICE --