Nampa Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material

BOISE - Steven Isaac Vasquez, 26, of Nampa, Idaho, was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today.

"Protecting Idaho's children is a top priority for my office, and we are grateful to work with so many dedicated partners who share the same goal. Together, we ensure that sexual offenders are held accountable for their egregious actions and that victims get the justice they deserve," said U.S. Attorney Davis

According to court records, the investigation began when the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force ("ICAC") received a CyberTip report from a social media platform. A CyberTip is a report submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children ("NCMEC"). NCMEC gathers leads and tips regarding suspected online crimes against children and forwards them to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement determined that a social media account, later identified as belonging to Vasquez, had been used to upload videos of child sexual abuse material. ICAC determined the videos depicted Vasquez sexually abusing a seven-year-old child. The investigation revealed that Vasquez had used his cellphone to record the videos and then posted them to his social media account. ICAC later obtained a search warrant for his online account and located the videos he had produced.

"This 30-year sentence gets one more predator off Idaho's streets," said Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador. "Protecting Idaho families is the foundation of everything we do in our office. I'm grateful to U.S. Attorney Bart Davis and our law enforcement partners for their work seeing this case through to justice for the family and victim."

Chief U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford also ordered Vasquez to serve a lifetime term of supervised release following his prison sentence. Vasquez will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction.

U.S. Attorney Davis commended the work of the Idaho ICAC Task Force, the Nampa Police Department, the Canyon County Sheriff's Office, the Middleton Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office, and the Canyon County Prosecutor's Office, which led to the charge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kassandra McGrady prosecuted the case.

These cases were 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 by the Department of Justice. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General's Office partner to marshal 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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