U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of North Dakota issued the following announcement on Jan. 23.
United States Attorney Drew H. Wrigley announced that on January 23, 2020, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Peter D. Welte sentenced Nicholas Adam Bartholome, age 28, Grand Forks, ND, to serve 9 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years supervised release for Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography. Bartholome was further ordered to pay $200 in special assessments to the Crime Victims’ Fund.
"Child pornography is comprised of crime scene photos where child subjects are horrifyingly victimized every time the photo is shared," said United States Attorney Drew Wrigley, "and the motives of profit and the depravity of sharing and viewing these images fuel an industry that we aim to help eradicate, including by investigating and imprisoning perpetrators like Nicholas Adam Bartholome"
This case came to the attention of law enforcement after an agent assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force began investigating individuals trading child pornography on a hidden network. Thereafter, Bartholome downloaded child pornography from computers operating in the network. The investigation revealed that between August 2017 and May 2018, Bartholome made multiple on-line requests for images and videos of known child pornography from others. On June 19, 2018, a search warrant was executed at the Bartholome’s residence in Grand Forks, ND, at which time
various electronic devices were located and seized. Bartholome was interviewed and admitted to using multiple networks to obtain child pornography.
A forensic examination of Bartholome’s electronic devices revealed over 1,100 files of violent child pornography. Bartholome’s collection of images and videos depicted the violent sexual assaults of prepubescent children as young as two years of age. Other images and videos depicted sadistic conduct involving prepubescent children.
United States Attorney Drew Wrigley complimented the outstanding investigative work of this case investigated by Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), North Dakota Bureau of Investigation and the Grand Forks Police Department, and he praised Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl for her continued leadership in prosecuting child pornography and exploitation cases.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the nation, Project Safe Childhood, in conjunction with Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), help federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders who use the Internet, online communications systems, or computer technology to sexually exploit children. The ICAC Program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces engaging in proactive investigations, forensic investigations, and criminal prosecutions. Project Safe Childhood also helps to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Original source can be found here.
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