California Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

BOISE – Jason C. Moffat, 41, of San Diego, California, was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. 

According to court records, the investigation began when the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received a CyberTip from Kik Messenger.  A CyberTip is a report submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  NCMEC gathers leads and tips regarding suspected online crimes against children and forwards them to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.  ICAC determined that a Kik account, later identified as belonging to Moffat, had uploaded and distributed child pornography to other users.

ICAC obtained a search warrant for the contents of the Kik account and located numerous videos of child pornography, including depictions of infants and toddlers being sexually abused.  ICAC later seized Moffat’s cellphone and examined it pursuant to a search warrant.  ICAC located additional files of child pornography on the cellphone, along with messages where Moffat discussed his sexual interest in children.

Moffat lived in Idaho when he possessed and distributed child pornography.  He later moved to California, where he was arrested on the charge.

U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford also sentenced Moffat to 15 years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $3,000 in restitution to a victim in the images he possessed.  Moffat will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of the conviction.

“The ability to track cyber tips to individual criminals is critical to protecting Idaho’s children,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit.  “We will continue to rely on our partnership with the ICAC Task Force and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office to remove child predators from our communities.”

“Taking these predators out of our communities is a top priority for my office,” said Attorney General Raúl Labrador.  “I’m proud of our ICAC Unit and the dedicated partnerships they have built with agencies across the state and around the country that track down these individuals and hold them accountable for their crimes.” 

U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the investigation by the Idaho ICAC Task Force, the San Diego ICAC Task Force, and the United States Marshals Service, which led to the charge.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kassandra McGrady prosecuted this case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

###