Safford Man Gets Prison For Child Pornography

On Wednesday May 16, 2018, Wayne Montierth, 54, of Safford, was sentenced to serve 210 months in prison.  After a trial, a jury found Montierth guilty of four counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Montierth’s term of imprisonment will be followed by lifetime supervised release with stringent sex offender conditions, including the requirement that he register as a sex offender.

A 2015 investigation by the FBI revealed that Montierth had been distributing sexually explicit images of children online using file-sharing software.  A search of Montierth’s computer revealed thousands of images and videos depicting child sex abuse.  In handing down the sentence, the Court found that the evidence showed Montierth had engaged in an on-going pattern of activity involving sexual abuse of children.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by United States 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.