POST FALLS MAN CHARGED IN ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ABUSE

Indictment Alleges He Tried to Travel to Canada to Have Sex with Teenage Girl

In an example of cross-border cooperation that involved the Vancouver Police Department in British Columbia, Canada, and the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a 36-year-old Post Falls resident has been charged with three counts of child pornography and attempted sexual abuse.

James Bruce Allison was charged by a federal grand jury in Coeur d'Alene with Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, Transportation in Interstate or Foreign Commerce of Child Pornography, and Attempted Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct.

Allison had his initial appearance in court last Friday, and entered a plea of not guilty. At a detention hearing on Monday, he was ordered detained pending trial. Trial was set for January 29 at the federal courthouse in Coeur d'Alene.

According to the indictment, Allison made contact in September via the Internet with a person he believed was a minor female in Vancouver, Canada, but was actually an undercover police officer. After communicating with the "girl" for several weeks and sending her child pornography, Allison allegedly made arrangements to meet her at a hotel in Vancouver. As he was leaving his Post Falls home on November 9, he was stopped by ICE agents who searched his vehicle and house.

If convicted, Allison faces a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence on the charge of Coercion and Enticement of a Minor, a mandatory 5-year sentence on the Transportation of Child Pornography charge, and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on the Attempted Travel charge.

"This is a wonderful example of cross-border cooperation," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Haws. "It should serve as a warning to those who would use the Internet to prey on children that they can never be certain who they're really talking to, even in another country."

An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.