Kalispell veteran sentenced in child porn case

A former U.S. Navy sailor, previously of Kalispell, was sentenced Wednesday, May 30 to 40 months in prison and 20 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.

According to information from U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, G. Zachary Terwilliger, Dustin Lee Sharbono, 29, of Kalispell, downloaded hundreds of images and videos of child pornography prior to a deployment.

Court documents indicated Sharbono’s criminal activity was revealed when a fellow sailor discovered Sharbono’s cell phone misplaced in a common area aboard the ship. The sailor attempted to identify the phone’s owner, and stumbled upon images of child pornography within the “Kik Messenger” application.

A probe by Naval Criminal Investigative Service of Sharbono, who was by then at sea, discovered a laptop computer and tablet device in Sharbono’s possession, both containing additional child pornography.

Sharbono attempted to conceal his activity by using an application known as “Hide It Pro,” which stores files in a seemingly benign folder on one’s digital media devices, and disguises itself as an audio manager application. Metadata associated with the Kik application, and other child pornography media in Sharbono’s possession confirmed that he downloaded the images in the weeks leading up to his deployment while his ship was in port in Norfolk.

This case is 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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources” for more information about Internet safety education.