RENO, Nev. – A Reno man who actively sought babysitting opportunities with families with young girls so he could potentially exploit the children was sentenced Tuesday to 84 months in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson for the District of Nevada.

Aaron M. Quackenbush, 27, previously pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography. He will be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. United States District Judge Robert C. Jones presided over the sentencing hearing.

An investigation revealed that two IP addresses associated with Quackenbush’s residence were downloading child pornography. Quackenbush was interviewed by law enforcement. During his interview, Quackenbush admitted that he had downloaded videos and photos of child pornography for 12 years. When investigators sought to execute a search warrant at his home, Quackenbush deleted the Twitter application and files containing the child pornography from his cellphone. Law enforcement was able to recover his Twitter conversations which revealed dialogue with others about pornographic photos of young girls, Quackenbush’s desire to babysit young girls, as well as videos and photos of child pornography totaling 5,710 images as calculated under the sentencing guidelines.

 The case was investigated by the FBI, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Northern Nevada Cyber Center Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Keller prosecuted the case.

If you have information regarding the sexual exploitation of children, contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Cyber Tipline at www.cybertipline.org.

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. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 and for information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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