BOISE, IDAHO – Wesley James Hurley, 41, of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to possessing sexually explicit images of minors, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Sentencing is set for May 9, 2011, in Boise before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge.
According to the plea agreement, in June 2010, Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force investigators executed a search warrant at Hurley’s home and seized computer equipment. Between July 2009 and June 2010, the computer equipment was used to download more than 100 child pornography files on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. When interviewed by an ICAC task force detective, Hurley admitted that he had been viewing child pornography files for the past 15 years. An FBI computer forensic examiner found that Hurley had peer-to-peer file sharing programs installed on his computer, which had been used to download and share child pornography. During the interview, Hurley also admitted that he had been using Limewire for approximately five years.
Some of the seized videos were submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for comparison with the Child Recognition Identification System. NCMEC identified videos containing minor victims that had been produced in Texas, Georgia, Washington state, Indiana, Michigan, Ukraine, Spain, England, and other locations.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Idaho ICAC task force will aggressively investigate and prosecute those who sexually exploit children,” said Olson. “Obtaining, possessing, and viewing child pornography victimizes children again and again. Those who do it will be punished.”
Hurley faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a minimum term of five years to lifetime supervised release. He will be required to forfeit all computer equipment listed in the plea agreement.
The case was investigated by the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program (ICAC), the Boise Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.