Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings, on February 18, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, LAYMON PARKER McGAUGHEY III, a 57-year-old resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, appeared for sentencing. McGAUGHEY was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 235 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Supervised Release: life time

McGAUGHEY was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to transportation of child pornography.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On August 19, 2005, McGAUGHEY was arrested at a residence in Billings on an outstanding warrant from Nevada. The warrant was for two counts of sexual assault of a victim under the age of 14 and three counts of lewdness with a minor under the age of 14. McGAUGHEY consented to a search of his computer which was located at the residence.

The computer, a flash drive, and 3 DVDs were examined and numerous images of child pornography were found, including images of known victims. Some of the children depicted in the images were clearly less than age 12 or prepubescent, and/or were engaged in sadism or masochism or other depictions of violence.

McGAUGHEY was subsequently convicted of the outstanding child sexual abuse charges from Nevada and was sentenced to prison time.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that McGAUGHEY will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, McGAUGHEY does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was conducted by a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Billings Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

 

 

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