Las Vegas Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Child Sexual Abuse Material Crimes

LAS VEGAS - A Las Vegas man was sentenced today by United States District Judge Gloria M. Navarro to 96 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for distributing and transporting child sexual abuse material over social media networks and applications, and for maintaining a large collection of CSAM. The government recommended a sentence of 96 months in prison.

"The distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material is an unforgivable, savage violation of human dignity that inflicts lifelong trauma on our most vulnerable," said First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. "Let this lengthy sentence serve as a definitive baseline for anyone who participates in this toxic marketplace: we will exhaust every technical and legal resource to track you down, strip away your digital anonymity, and permanently remove you from civilized society. There will be no leniency, no compromises, and no mercy."

"Today's sentencing delivers justice for victims of a predator who targeted children," said Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto for the FBI Las Vegas Field Office. "While it cannot erase the harm he caused, we hope it brings some measure of peace and closure. Donovan's systematic collection and distribution of child abuse material reflects profound depravity. The exploitation of children is an unforgivable crime, and we remain committed to holding offenders accountable."

According to court documents, James Donovan distributed CSAM at least 11 times with other users and channels of the social media application Discord. He also transported CSAM to an Amazon Cloud account using the internet. He also possessed about 70 printed images and over 50,000 digital images and videos of CSAM depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence, infants and toddlers, and prepubescent minors under the age of 12.

Donovan pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography, one count of transportation of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. In addition to his sentence of imprisonment, Donovan will be required to pay restitution to his victims and to register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Afroza Yeasmin prosecuted the case.

These cases are a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 www.justice.gov/psc.

The public is urged to remain vigilant and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI's tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), tips.fbi.gov, or by calling your local FBI field office.

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