FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 29, 2008
BARRY LEE ARMBRISTER PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Helena on May 29, 2008, before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell, BARRY LEE ARMBRISTER, a 31-year-old resident of Helena, pled guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography. Sentencing is set for September 24, 2008. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On April 11, 2007, deputies from the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a domestic violence call at ARMBRISTER'S residence in East Helena. ARMBRISTER'S wife reported that he had grabbed her and thrown her against a wall after she tried to talk to him about a picture he had put of himself on a computer site. His wife stated that ARMBRISTER was on probation for a violent offense, had been drinking alcohol, and using illegal drugs in the house. ARMBRISTER was arrested for misdemeanor partner/family member assault.
ARMBRISTER'S state probation officer then arrived at the residence and met with the deputies and ARMBRISTER'S wife. His wife advised that ARMBRISTER had marijuana and several pipes in a storage shed and that he had beer in the refrigerator. The probation officer conducted a search and found the beer, drug paraphernalia and marijuana. In ARMBRISTER'S car, the probation officer found a letter from a girl named Rachel with sexual insinuations about a trip ARMBRISTER planned for Niagra Falls in July.
When questioned, ARMBRISTER'S wife said she didn't know anything about a girl named Rachel. The officer advised her that if Rachel was under the age of 18 and had sent any pornographic pictures of herself, ARMBRISTER would be in trouble. His wife then stated that ARMBRISTER had hundreds of pictures of young girls on his computer. The probation officer then seized the computers.
The next day, ARMBRISTER'S wife went to the probation office and turned over three CD-R disks. She reported that after the probation officer left the house the night before, she found the disks in ARMBRISTER'S desk. She stated that the disks had pictures of children involved in sexually explicit acts.
On April 27, 2007, ARMBRISTER'S wife was interviewed and detailed ARMBRISTER'S child pornography viewing. She reported that in the years she had known ARMBRISTER, he had a sexual interest in little girls. She stated that she had observed ARMBRISTER engaging in sex acts with female children both in his residence and in vehicles. She reported that when her two female children were aged 14 and 7 years they told her that ARMBRISTER had molested them. She also stated that ARMBRISTER had viewed child pornography at least eight years previously at another residence and currently continued to collect and watch child pornography on their home computer.
On May 29, 2007, ARMBRISTER was interviewed and admitted that he used the computers to search for and receive child pornography images and movies via the Internet. ARMBRISTER also admitted that he had saved child pornography to one of the CDs that his wife had given to the probation officer.
An analysis of the computers found numerous images and movies of child pornography, including images of known victims. Some of the children depicted in the images and movies were clearly less than age 12 or prepubescent, and/or were engaged in sadism or masochism or other depictions of violence.
ARMBRISTER faces possible penalties of a minimum mandatory 5 years in prison and could be sentenced to 20 years, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervision.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Helena Police Department and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
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A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.
