May 21, 2009

FORMER CENTRAL COAST SHERIFF’S DEPUTY PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGE OF POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

A former deputy with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department pleaded guilty today to possession of child pornography.

Bryan Jon Goossens, 47, of Atascadero, pleaded guilty to a single felony charge on the day he was scheduled to be tried in the case. Goossens was indicted last year by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles based on an FBI investigation into a website called the “Child Porno Video Shop.”

Special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched Goossens’ residence in July 2008. At the house, agents found evidence that Goossens had communicated with the “Child Porno Video Shop,” seeking sample videos of child pornography. Subsequent forensic analysis of Goossens’ computer identified at least two dozen videos that appeared to contain child pornography which defendant had downloaded using a peer-to-peer file sharing program.

Goossens pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank, who is scheduled to sentence the defendant on August 31. At sentencing, Goossens faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

The case against Goossens was investigated by the FBI.

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.