HONOLULU, Hawaii – Tyler Pang, 20, of Honolulu, received a sentence of five years imprisonment from United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi today for possessing child pornography. The defendant also must register as a sex offender in the jurisdiction(s) where he resides, is employed, or is a student.

U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price for the District of Hawaii announced that according to information produced in court, Pang found a sexually explicit video of a minor female online. After identifying her and finding her social media account, Pang contacted the female with threats to disseminate her sexually explicit video unless she produced more explicit images for him. When she refused to comply with his demands, Pang distributed the explicit video to her friends on social media, and continued to threaten her over the course of months. In addition, Pang admitted possessing a collection of child pornography that he offered for sale on the internet.

“The defendant’s despicable conduct in this case appropriately landed him in federal prison for years, where he can reflect upon the harm he caused the victim. As the prosecution made clear, Pang weaponized a sexually explicit video of a minor in his attempt to satisfy his desire for explicit photos of her. My office will continue to seek justice for victims of this kind of extortion, as well as those who victimize our young people by contributing to the market for child pornography by possessing, distributing, or producing it,” said U.S. Attorney Price.

“Identifying predators who exploit the innocence of a child will always be a top priority for the FBI. Tyler Pang possessed sexual images of children and distributed the images over the internet. Today’s sentencing highlights the hard work of the men and women of the FBI and puts a child predator offline,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Eli S. Miranda.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Early.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals 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.