Garden City Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Pornography

BOISE – Vincent Porter, 32, of Garden City, Idaho, was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today.

According to court records, the investigation began when a citizen reported to the Garden City Police Department (GCPD) that she had located concerning videos on a cellphone Porter had been accessing.  The witness reported that the videos showed Porter setting up a camera and surreptitiously recording the 10-year-old victim.

GCPD obtained a search warrant for Porter’s cloud storage.  Within the account, GCPD located two videos that Porter had recorded of the victim.  The videos showed Porter setting up a camera in the bathroom to record the victim undressing and showering.  GCPD also examined Porter’s cellphone pursuant to a search warrant.  On the cellphone, GCPD located an additional explicit video Porter had recorded of the victim.  Porter was previously convicted in Ada County of sexual battery of a minor 16 or 17 years of age.

“The defendant in this case is a sex offender who was paroled from a state sentence only to begin victimizing a 10-year-old girl within a couple years,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit.  “This case shows the effectiveness of federal prosecution as this defendant will now serve decades behind bars with no possibility of parole.  I am grateful for the prosecutors in my office and our law enforcement colleagues who dedicate their careers to keeping Idaho’s children safe by removing child predators from our communities.”

“The Garden City Police Department is happy to partner with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to take predators like this off the street,” said Garden City Police Chief Cory Stambaugh.  “We appreciate the partnership in keeping our community safer.  I applaud the hard work of the investigators and prosecutors on this case.”

“It is through cooperation like this among area law enforcement and our federal partners that makes the Treasure Valley such a safe place to raise a family,” said Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea.

U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford also sentenced Porter to a lifetime of supervised release.  Porter will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of the conviction.

U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the cooperative efforts of the Garden City Police Department, the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Meridian Police Department, 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.

###