Sierra Vista man sentenced to 10 years on child pornography charges | Crime

A Sierra Vista man was sentenced last week to 10 years in a federal prison for conspiracy to receive child pornography and possession of child pornography, due to an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The man, identified as Michael D. Flammond, was sentenced on September 26, to 10 years in federal prison followed by lifetime supervised release and registration as a sex offender.  Flammond had pleaded guilty to the charges at a January 11 hearing. 

According to court documents, in October 2006 a Texas store clerk contacted authorities, after he discovered images of child pornography on a laptop, originally owned by Flammond who lived in Arizona.  A further examination of the laptop turned up over 344 images of child pornography, and evidence of an additional 16 images being distributed over the internet between February and July 2006.

The evidence was enough to open an investigation into the matter.  Law enforcement officials in Arizona, and the HSI Douglas office initiated the investigation.  After an interview by HSI agents, Flammond admitted to owning the computer, downloading the images and distributing them, in order to receive images in return. 

“Child pornography is not a victimless crime,” said Javier Pacheco, assistant special agent in charge of HSI Douglas, in a recent news release. "It preys on the most vulnerable and innocent segment of society--our children. Thanks to a tip from a concerned citizen and the hard work and dedication of HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners, this convicted sex offender will be serving a significant prison sentence."

The Sierra Vista Police Department assisted HSI in the investigation by the SierraVista Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carin Duryee of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov.