Madera Man Sentenced TO 11 Years AND 3 Months IN Prison For Child Pornography

FRESNO, Calif. — United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Aaron Lewis Gaudinier, 50, of Madera, to 11 years and three months in prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, for receipt and distribution of child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, between December 14, 2011, and February 4, 2012, Gaudinier received and distributed more than 600 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some images were of prepubescent minors and some depicted violence. Gaudinier has been detained as a danger to the community and flight risk since his initial appearance on February 15, 2012; he pleaded guilty on May 5, 2014.

 “Those who trade child pornography over the Internet and use peer-to-peer file sharing technology, mistakenly believe cyberspace shields them from detection by law enforcement,” said Nick Annan, acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Francisco. “However, as this sentence makes clear, those who use the Internet to exploit children should be on notice, HSI, in collaboration with its state and local partners, is using every tool at its disposal to identify these online predators and bring them to justice - whether they are around the block or around the world.”

This case is the result of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, specifically the Madera and Fresno County Sheriff’s Offices, the Tulare Police Department, and the Fresno office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorney David Gappa prosecuted the case.

It was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.