FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 13, 2007
RICHARD DROST SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on December 13, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, RICHARD DROST, a 29-year-old resident of Great Falls, appeared for sentencing. DROST was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 168 months
- Special Assessment: $200
- Supervised Release: lifetime
DROST was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to receipt and possession of child pornography.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In December of 2006, the Great Falls Police Department received a report that DROST had what appeared to be child pornography in his possession via a computer. DROST'S roommate in Great Falls reported that she had observed DROST in front of the computer masturbating, holding a pair of the roommate's panties and watching a movie which appeared to depict a female child engaged in sexual activity with a dog.
When interviewed, DROST admitted that he had a juvenile history of sexual offenses against children, including offenses while he was in sexual offender treatment. DROST admitted that he used a peer-to-peer program to search out movies, and that some of the movies depicted children engaged in sexually explicit activity. DROST also admitted that he had an interest in child pornography movies and had downloaded more of them than adult pornography movies. DROST further admitted that he knew it was illegal to download and possess child pornography. DROST also admitted to the conduct described by the roommate to the Great Falls Police Department.
The computers used by DROST were seized and analyzed for the presence of child pornography. Numerous movies were found, including those with titles and descriptions specifically mentioned by DROST as being child pornography. Some of the movies are difficult to determine the age of the child involved, but DROST took a substantial step towards the receipt and possession of child pornography and believed the images to be those of children, including a thirteen-year old girl.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that DROST will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, DROST does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
