MISSOULA—A Gallatin County man who admitted distributing child pornography using his smartphone was sentenced today to 19 years and seven months in prison and 15 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

In addition, Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen ordered Aaron Matthew Manning, 30, to pay $18,000 restitution and to forfeit his smartphone.

Manning pleaded guilty in September to distribution of child pornography.

The prosecution said in court records that the Bozeman Police Department and the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office were investigating Manning in 2016 for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old child he had met online. During the investigation, law enforcement obtained search warrants for Manning’s smartphone and his Dropbox account, a cloud-based file storage service. Investigators determined that Manning used an application known as KIK on his smartphone to trade child pornography with other KIK users and that in December 2015, Manning sent an image of a prepubescent child engaged in sexually explicit conduct to another KIK user. Manning also communicated with another KIK user and sent the user a link to his Dropbox account, which investigators determined contained images and videos of child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bozeman Police Department, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children. Through a network of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation. It is implemented through partnerships including the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The ICAC Task Force Program was created to assist state and local law enforcement agencies by enhancing their investigative response to technology facilitated crimes against children.

XXX

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that the following persons were arraigned or appeared this week before U.S. Magistrate judges on indictments handed down by the Grand Jury or on criminal complaints. The charging documents are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty:

Appearing in Missoula before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch and pleading not guilty on May 15 was:

Aaron Matthew Manning, 29, of Bozeman, on charges of distribution of child pornography, transportation of child porn and receipt of child porn. If convicted of the most serious crime, Manning faces a minimum five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release. Manning was detained. The case was investigated by the Bozeman Police Department, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Pacer case reference. 19-11.

Bruce Alan Gagne, 59, of Bozeman, on charges of receipt of child pornography. If convicted of the most serious crime, Gagne faces a minimum five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release. Gagne was released pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Bozeman Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Pacer case reference. 19-12.

Francis Edward Burke, Jr., 25, of Polson, on charges of felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Burke faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Burke was detained. The case was investigated by the Polson Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Pacer case reference. 19-22.

Dominique Autherallen Hamilton, 22, of Helena, and Jada Marie Johnson, 23, of Helena, on charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted of the most serious crime, Hamilton and Johnson face a maximum 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and five years of supervised release. Hamilton and Johnson were released pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the FBI. Pacer case reference. 19-04.

Jeffrey Kenneth Knapp, 41, of Montana City, on charges of felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted of the most serious crime, Knapp faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Knapp was released pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Pacer case reference. 19-3.

Appearing in Billings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan and pleading not guilty on May 16 was:

Michael Alan McNulty, 54, of Billings, on charges of conspiracy with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted of the most serious crime, McNulty faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and a minimum five years of supervised release. McNulty was detained. The case was investigated by the FBI. Pacer case reference. 19-51.

Harley Matthew Isis McMillan, 24, a transient, on charges of sexual abuse of a minor. If convicted of the most serious crime, McMillan faces a maximum 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years to life of supervised release. McMillan was released pending further proceedings. The case was investigated by the FBI. Pacer case reference. 19-50.

If any of the above cases are of interest to your media organization and the community it serves, we encourage you to monitor the progress of the case regularly through the U.S. District Court calendar and the PACER system.

To establish a PACER account, which will allow you to review documents filed in the case, please go to, http://www.pacer.gov/register.html. To access the district court’s calendar, please go to https://ecf.mtd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/PublicCalendar.pl.

  

XXX