Wyoming ICAC Task Force - Casper, Wyoming man faces child porn charges
Casper, Wyoming man faces child porn charges
By Tom Morton, Star-Tribune staff writer, 12-20-06
A Casper man has been charged with possessing and attempting to distribute child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court last week.
If convicted on both counts, Brett Swenson, 1426 Cody Ave., faces between five years and 30 years imprisonment, according to the penalty summary in the document filed in U.S. District Court.
Officers went to his home Nov. 11 following an undercover investigation of his computer activity by the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, according to the criminal complaint.
The task force works with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI to investigate criminal violations of federal and state child pornography and child sexual exploitation laws.
FBI agent Todd Scott, assigned to the task force, obtained a search warrant from Natrona County Circuit Court Judge Steven Brown on Nov. 11 and searched the house along with ICAC agents and Casper Police officers.
When officers arrived Swenson was sitting in his car in front of his house.
First, he told officers he didn't know much about computers. Then, he told them he used his computer to play games, and then he added he also downloads music.
Finally, according to the complaint, he told officers he downloaded images of child pornography in order to provide them to local law enforcement officials.
Agents seized a Hewlett Packard Pavilion 700 computer, CDs and floppy diskettes, 12 hard drives, one thumb drive, and VHS tapes.
Agents gave the evidence to DCI Special Agent Flint Waters to conduct a forensic analysis of the computer and its Western Digital hard drive.
By Nov. 27, Waters had recovered 924 images of what appear to be child pornography and an additional 116 images of child pornography depicting children know by the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.
The images include pictures of adult males engaged in sex acts with prepubescent females, and one image of bondage of a young teenage female.
A warrant was issued Dec. 11 for his arrest. He was arrested Thursday and was being held at the Natrona County Dentention Center as of Tuesday morning.
The federal government will seek pretrial detention of Swenson because the case is a crime of violence, and because of the serious risks of flight and of obstruction of justice.
Swenson is scheduled to appear for his preliminary hearing, arraignment and detention hearing before Magistrate Judge Michael Shickich in U.S. District Court in Casper at 11 a.m. today.
Swenson could not be reached for comment because his phone number could not be determined.
Reporter Tom Morton can be reached at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@casperstartribune.net.
Retrieved December 21, 2006 from http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/12/20/news/casper/0a00d4c6d80b495f8725724a00071c45.txt
By Tom Morton, Star-Tribune staff writer, 12-20-06
A Casper man has been charged with possessing and attempting to distribute child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court last week.
If convicted on both counts, Brett Swenson, 1426 Cody Ave., faces between five years and 30 years imprisonment, according to the penalty summary in the document filed in U.S. District Court.
Officers went to his home Nov. 11 following an undercover investigation of his computer activity by the Wyoming Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, according to the criminal complaint.
The task force works with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI to investigate criminal violations of federal and state child pornography and child sexual exploitation laws.
FBI agent Todd Scott, assigned to the task force, obtained a search warrant from Natrona County Circuit Court Judge Steven Brown on Nov. 11 and searched the house along with ICAC agents and Casper Police officers.
When officers arrived Swenson was sitting in his car in front of his house.
First, he told officers he didn't know much about computers. Then, he told them he used his computer to play games, and then he added he also downloads music.
Finally, according to the complaint, he told officers he downloaded images of child pornography in order to provide them to local law enforcement officials.
Agents seized a Hewlett Packard Pavilion 700 computer, CDs and floppy diskettes, 12 hard drives, one thumb drive, and VHS tapes.
Agents gave the evidence to DCI Special Agent Flint Waters to conduct a forensic analysis of the computer and its Western Digital hard drive.
By Nov. 27, Waters had recovered 924 images of what appear to be child pornography and an additional 116 images of child pornography depicting children know by the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children.
The images include pictures of adult males engaged in sex acts with prepubescent females, and one image of bondage of a young teenage female.
A warrant was issued Dec. 11 for his arrest. He was arrested Thursday and was being held at the Natrona County Dentention Center as of Tuesday morning.
The federal government will seek pretrial detention of Swenson because the case is a crime of violence, and because of the serious risks of flight and of obstruction of justice.
Swenson is scheduled to appear for his preliminary hearing, arraignment and detention hearing before Magistrate Judge Michael Shickich in U.S. District Court in Casper at 11 a.m. today.
Swenson could not be reached for comment because his phone number could not be determined.
Reporter Tom Morton can be reached at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@casperstartribune.net.
Retrieved December 21, 2006 from http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/12/20/news/casper/0a00d4c6d80b495f8725724a00071c45.txt