March 20, 2007

Former Tulare County sheriff's deputy sentenced to eight years for receiving child pornography over the Internet

FRESNO, Calif. - A former Tulare County Sheriff's deputy was sentenced to eight years in prison here today for receiving child pornography over the Internet, the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and several local law enforcement agencies.

John Albert Sickler, 42, of Merced, California, was sentenced earlier today by U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. After serving his prison term, Sickler will be on supervised release for 120 months, during which time his access to computers, the Internet, and minors will be restricted. Sickler will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Sickler, who previously pleaded guilty to the charges, admitted that he used a computer and modem to receive images over the Internet depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, including images of minors engaging in sadistic or masochistic conduct. The investigation revealed that, from May 2003 through September 2005, Sickler purchased child pornography from numerous web sites using credit and debit cards and that he received child pornography via a peer-to-peer file sharing program. The defendant admitted that he received and possessed more than 600 images of the sexual exploitation of minors on computer hard drives, compact discs or other storage devices.

Sickler was employed as a deputy with the Tulare County Sheriff's Department from 1995 until his arrest at his Visalia home in September 2005. A search of Sickler's residence turned up numerous digital images and computer movie files of children, some believed to be as young as two or three years old, being sexually abused by adult men.

ICE was assisted in the investigation by the Fresno County Sheriff's Department Computer Crimes Unit; the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Computer Crimes Unit; the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department; and the Suffolk County (New York) Police Department. Officers with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, the Visalia Police Department, and the California Department of Justice assisted in Sickler's arrest.