Homedale Man Sentenced to Over 11 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material

BOISE - Richard Marlin Kellogg, 50, of Homedale, Idaho, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for possessing child sexual abuse material, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today.

According to court records, the investigation began when the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force ("ICAC") received a CyberTip report from a cloud storage 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 cloud account, later identified as belonging to Kellogg, had been used to upload and store child sexual abuse material.

Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the contents of Kellogg's cloud account and located numerous files of child sexual abuse material. ICAC subsequently executed a search warrant at Kellogg's Homedale residence. During the execution of the search warrant, Kellogg refused to exit the residence and was later found hiding in a hidden room inside the residence. Investigators seized his cellphone and located hundreds of files of child sexual abuse material on the cellphone.

Chief U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford also ordered Kellogg to serve a lifetime period of supervised release following his prison sentence and to pay $6,000 in restitution to the victims in the images that he possessed. Kellogg 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 and Homeland Security Investigations in Boise and Spokane, 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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