Kentucky Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

WASHINGTON – Mark Doane, of Independence, Ky., was sentenced today to five years in prison for receiving child pornography, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division and Acting U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky James A. Zerhusen announced. U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman also ordered Doane to serve 25 years of supervised release.

In November 2005, Doane, 35, sent his computer to Hewlett Packard in Louisville, Ky., for repair. Technicians reviewing the hard drive subsequently discovered images and videos of what appeared to be minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and alerted the Independence Police Department. A preliminary forensic exam by the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uncovered approximately 70 images, 8 movie files and several cookies from child pornography Web sites on Doane’s computer. Initially, Doane claimed that a virus caused the child pornography to be downloaded onto his computer without his knowledge, but a subsequent, more in-depth review by a computer forensic specialist with the High Tech Investigative Unit of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) refuted that claim. Doane thereafter pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography on Dec. 10, 2007, the day before his criminal trial was scheduled to begin.

Doane’s case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Leonhard of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Ward of the Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and CEOS Trial Attorney Elizabeth M. Yusi. The case was jointly investigated by ICE, the Independence Police Department and the High Tech Investigative Unit of CEOS.