News Releases

Idaho man sentenced following guilty plea on child pornography charges

BOISE, Idaho - A local man was sentenced on Monday to 87 months in prison and 20 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Nathan Parkinson, 36, paid for a subscription to a commercial child pornography website. A notice on the Web site alerted would-be subscribers that membership to this Web site was illegal and warned them to be discreet about purchases.

When ICE agents searched Parkinson's home in July 2008, they discovered more than 50,000 sexually explicit images and dozens of videos of child pornography. Parkinson admitted to the ICE agents that he had used his credit card to buy child pornography online and "a ton of it" would be found on his computer.

"Today's prison sentence is a reminder of the serious crime that is committed when individuals use the Internet to sexually exploit innocent children by possessing images of child pornography," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Seattle. "ICE agents will continue to work tirelessly to identify these child predators and bring them to justice."

Parkinson pleaded guilty in September 2009. In addition to his prison sentence and supervised release, he was fined $4,000 and ordered to participate in sexual deviancy and drug treatment programs.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign national predators whose crimes make them deportable. Launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 12,000 individuals under Operation Predator.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423. 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.