A Rogers man has been sentenced to 60 months in prison for possession of child pornography, federal officials announced Friday.
Craig Goettsch, 53, was sentenced in the United States District Court in Fayetteville by the Honorable Timothy L. Brooks following a guilty plea in October 2014. The sentence includes five years of supervised release.
Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, praised the hard work of law enforcement in identifying, investigating, and prosecuting those who commit crimes against children.
According to court records, members of the Northwest Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children taskforce identified a computer that was engaging in the distribution of child pornography via an internet file sharing program in May 2013. A subsequent investigation revealed that the subscriber information related to the suspect internet user account returned to a residence in Rogers, Arkansas, and a subscriber name of Craig Goettsch.
Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the Goettsch’s residence in January 2014, at which time numerous computers and other digital storage devices were seized. Goettsch later admitted to using the internet to download and view child pornography. A subsequent forensic examination of the confiscated items revealed thousands of images of child pornography.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case for the United States. The 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.
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.
Key Facts
- State: Arkansas
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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