December 14, 2009
MONTROSE MAN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR COERCION AND ENTICEMENT OF A MINOR
DENVER – Vernon L. Estes, age 54, of Montrose, Colorado, was sentenced last Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn to serve 120 months (10 years) in federal prison for coercion and enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney David Gaouette and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Copp. Following his incarceration, Estes is to serve 5 years on Supervised Release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. Estes, who appeared in court in custody, was remanded.
Vernon L. Estes was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on April 23, 2009. He pled guilty before Judge Blackburn on September 25, 2009. He was sentenced on December 11, 2009.
According to the stipulated facts contained in the plea agreement, starting in March of 2008, Estes accessed the internet from his home computer in Montrose, Colorado, to “chat” in a Yahoo! Chat room. Estes, using a made up persona, purported to be a modeling agent who was soliciting young teenage girls to manufacture child pornography. As part of the solicitation, Estes distributed videos and photos of child pornography. Instead of communication with young teenage girls, Estes was in fact “chatting” with undercover agents from three separate and independent law enforcement agencies: The Oregon Intercept Task Force, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bay County, Florida Sheriff’s Office.
On April 29, 2009, a detective with the Bay County, Florida Sheriff’s Office was posing as a 13-year old girl. The defendant through his made up persona introduced himself as a modeling agent living in Hawaii. He told the girl that he represents girls from eight years old through high school age. Estes initially sent non-sexual pictures of young girls. The undercover officer, posing as the 13-year old girl, then asked questions about the type of modeling and whether it was nude modeling. Estes then sent samples of child pornography. From April 29, 2008, until May 12, 2008, the defendant continued to entice who he believed was the 13-year old to engage in sexual activity. Based on investigative information gathered from Oregon, Washington, and Florida detectives, ICE agents in Grand Junction applied for and received a search warrant for Estes’ home.
On June 10, 2008, agents went to Estes’ home. When confronted, according to the plea agreement, Estes admitted that he had been posing as a modeling agent and visiting chat rooms on Yahoo! trying to get girls under age 18 to send him live images of themselves modeling in the nude. Four computers were seized from the defendant’s home. Digital forensic analysis conducted by ICE resulted in the discovery of 660 chat log files, including chat logs from Estes’ made up persona. Images and streaming videos of child pornography were also found on Mr. Estes’ computers.
“The criminal conduct of this defendant shows how someone using only their home computer can set in motion a string of events aimed to entice innocent young girls to enter the world of child pornography by submitting photographs that will be traded among other criminals and even worse, remain on the internet for years to come,” said U.S. Attorney David Gaouette. “Today’s sentence is not only appropriate for this defendant but will hopefully serve as a deterrent to others who see nothing wrong with engaging in similar criminal acts.”
“Anyone who produces, buys, shares or possesses child pornography should take special note that five law enforcement agencies cooperated with this investigation and prosecution,” said Jeffrey Copp, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Denver. “ICE routinely works with our law enforcement partners to bring justice to the victimized children, and, we hope, to deter anyone who might be tempted to engage in this perverted hobby.” Copp oversees a four-state area which includes: Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with substantial help from the Oregon Intercept Task Force, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bay County, Florida Sheriff’s Office.
Estes was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Heldmyer. The sentencing hearing was handle by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Smith.
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 United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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: http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov
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