News Releases

Oregon woman sentenced in child pornography
Traded images online using Google "Hello" photo-sharing program

SEATTLE _ A Springfield, Ore., woman was sentenced today to four years in federal prison and 15 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Rebecca Marie Stubblefield, 22, was living with her boyfriend in Issaquah, Wash., when he became the subject of an ICE child pornography investigation in 2007. During the course of that investigation, ICE agents seized a computer they shared.

Stubblefield later contacted ICE to reclaim the computer. During questioning by ICE agents, she eventually admitted to using "Google Hello", an online, photo-sharing program, in order to trade child pornography with users.

While conducting a forensic review of the computer's hard drive, ICE agents discovered that in addition to the images downloaded by the original target of the investigation, Stubblefield had also downloaded more than 600 images into a user-created file named "Becca's Stuff/Puppies."

According to statements made during the sentencing hearing by the defense attorney and prosecutor, Stubblefield not only possessed the illegal images, but she sexually molested the 3-year-old daughter of an acquaintance. Stubblefield will be required to undergo sex offender treatment while in federal prison.

"This case illustrates how innocent children suffer at the hands of those who trade in the underworld of child pornography," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations in Seattle. "ICE maintains its resolve to bring to justice those who seek to sexually exploit society's most precious gift - our children."

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers. Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 11,000 individuals.

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.