Poplar man pleads guilty to sending obscene material to minor

GREAT FALLS - A Poplar man accused of sending obscene pictures and videos to a minor admitted to charges today, Acting U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot said.

The defendant, Benjamin George Walkingeagle, Sr., 40, pleaded guilty to one count of transfer of obscene material to a minor. Walkingeagle faces 10 years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided and will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing was set for August 12, 2026. Walkingeagle was released with conditions pending further proceedings.

The government alleged in court documents that in October 2023, the FBI investigated Walkingeagle for transferring obscene material to a minor after a 14-year-old female, Jane Doe, reported he was sending her sexual messages. Doe was forensically interviewed and confirmed Walkingeagle sent her pictures and videos over Facebook. She no longer had the messages but provided law enforcement with screenshots. The messages show sexually explicit messages, including what appears to be a picture of male genitalia. The actual image was covered up by the victim, but it is consistent with an image of the genitalia of the photographer. In a 2025 interview with the FBI, Walkingeagle admitted he sent Jane Doe a picture of his genitalia that he took in his bedroom.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The FBI and Glasgow Police Department conducted the investigation.

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. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals 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 Justice.gov/PSC.

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