April 13, 2007

Sierra Vista man sentenced to 14 years in prison on child pornography charges stemming from ICE probe

TUCSON, Ariz. – A 39-year-old Sierra Vista man was sentenced here today to 168 months in prison for attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Dustin Garold Heaton, 39, who pleaded guilty in June 2006, came to the attention of ICE after the agency received a number of cyber tip line reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  Those reports indicated that, between April and June 2005, someone had uploaded images of child pornography utilizing a Yahoo account to a photo album.  ICE’s investigation revealed the account was Heaton’s.  In June 2005, ICE agents, assisted by the Sierra Vista Police Department, executed a federal search warrant at Heaton’s residence.  During the search, ICE seized computers and computer related storage media.  Agents also interviewed Heaton, who acknowledged that he had downloaded the images that were the subject of the cyber tip line reports.

While the forensic analysis of those items was proceeding, ICE agents received another NCMEC lead indicating he had uploaded additional images of child pornography in September 2005.  In December 2005, ICE agents executed a second warrant at Heaton’s home and seized additional computers.  A forensic analysis of a computer seized during the second search showed that it too contained images and movies of child pornography.   Heaton admitted that the child pornography in question was downloaded from a file sharing system called “Limewire,” and that he had created Yahoo profiles featuring child pornography seeking to see how many other individuals on the Internet were as mentally sick as he was.  Heaton was arrested in December 2005 and has been incarcerated since that time.

After serving his prison term, Heaton will remain under supervised release for the remainder of his life.  He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood and ICE’s Operation Predator.  Operation Predator is an ongoing ICE enforcement initiative to identify, investigate, arrest and, in the case of foreign nationals, deport child sex predators.  Since the initiative began in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 9,700 individuals nationwide.

ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.  Investigators staff this hotline around the clock.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

-- ICE --