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Ethiopia - Ethiopian Man gets 3 years in child porn case

Native of Ethiopia might be deported

Source: The Times-Picayune

By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch

A 32-year-old Slidell man [Slidell is a town near New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States] was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to more than three years in prison for possessing 9,000 images and 50 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children, some younger than 12.

Agegnehu Tsega, who is from Ethiopia, received 39 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon also ruled that the prison term be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. But according to the U.S. attorney's office, U.S. immigration officials instead are planning to deport Tsega back to Ethiopia after he is released from prison.

Tsega pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on Oct. 1. The charge carries up to 10 years in prison, a possible lifetime term of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and registration as a sex offender.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents received information that Tsega had purchased access to sexually explicit Web sites on at least three occasions, according to a statement he signed as part of a plea agreement.

On March 25, the agents went to Tsega's Wellington Lane residence in Slidell and Tsega gave written consent to a search of his home, authorities said. Agents seized computers, DVDs and CDs, authorities said.

Computer records revealed Tsega had used various search terms -- such as "kinderkutje," "hard Lolitas," "youngvideomodels" and tinymodel" -- to find online sites where he could download the sexually explicit images.

Tsega told authorities that he had been downloading similar images since 2003. He said he was addicted to the images and would view them weekly, according to his statement.

The U.S. attorney's office said the case was brought forward as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national program launched in May 2006 and run by the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

The program uses federal, state and local resources to find, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and help victims.

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F A C T U A L B A S I S

Source: United States Department of Justice

United States Vs AGEGNEHU TSEGA

Should this matter proceed to trial, both the government and the defendant, AGEGNEHU TSEGA, do hereby stipulate and agree that the following facts set forth a sufficient factual basis for the crime to which the defendant is pleading guilty and that the government would prove the following beyond a reasonable doubt at trial:

The government would show that at all times mentioned in the indictment, the defendant,
AGEGNEHU TSEGA, was a resident of the Eastern District of Louisiana, living in Slidell,
Louisiana.

The government would present evidence and testimony that in 2005 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents received information that AGEGNEHU TSEGA had purchased access to child pornography websites on three separate occasions. The government would introduce the defendant’s Visa debit card records to establish that he made these illegal purchases. On March 25, 2008, ICE agents located TSEGA in Slidell, Louisiana at his Wellington Lane residence.

TSEGA voluntarily provided ICE agents with written consent to search his residence and allowed agents to seize evidence from the Wellington address. Agents would testify that they recovered computers, DVDs, and CDs from the defendant’s Slidell residence.

The government would establish through testimony and documentary evidence that TSEGA knowingly used his computer to search for, download, and save images of child pornography. Further, the evidence and testimony would establish that a computer forensic search of TSEGA’s seized computers and related evidence revealed approximately 9,000 images and 50 videos depicting the sexual victimization of children. Computer forensic records revealed TSEGA used search terms such as “kinderkutje,” Hard Lolitas,” “youngvideomodels,” and “tinymodel.”

Further, the government would introduce through ICE agents post-Miranda statements wherein TSEGA voluntarily admitted to federal agents that he knowingly downloaded images of child pornography to his computer. According to TSEGA, he used the file sharing peer-to-peer program eMule to download and save child pornography to his computer. TSEGA said he had been downloading child pornography via the Internet since 2003. TSEGA told ICE agents that he used his Visa debit card to make purchases to child pornography websites and that he would save child pornography to his desktop computer. According to TSEGA, he became sexually aroused by child pornography, was addicted to it, and would view sexually explicit images of children weekly.

Forensic evidence consisting of medical testimony, law enforcement officers, and supporting documentation would establish that some of the child victims depicted in the images possessed by TSEGA were of real, identifiable victims, less than the age of eighteen (18) at the time the child pornography was created.

Testimony would establish that some of the child victims depicted in the materials possessed by TSEGA were of prepubescent children less than 18 years of age; to wit: less than twelve (12) years old and that the images of the child victims were engaged in “sexually explicit conduct” as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 2256. All of the images of child pornography possessed by the defendant, would be introduced through the testimony of ICE agents.

Further, the government would present evidence that would establish that the images of child pornography had been transported in interstate and foreign commerce via computer. Further, the government would show through testimony and documentary evidence that the equipment used by the defendant to acquire the child pornography was transported in interstate or foreign commerce.