Plains man gets federal prison time for making child porn

A Plains man who admitted creating and transporting child pornography videos was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

According to acting U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson, David Paul Farrar, 58, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to sexual exploitation of a child and transportation of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.

In court documents filed in the case, the prosecution said that while Farrar was away in Idaho in June 2019, he allowed a friend to stay at his home in Plains. The friend viewed electronic storage cards found in Farrar's house and saw they contained sexually explicit photographs of a female child. The friend reported her findings to law enforcement.

A federal agent obtained a search warrant for Farrar's residence and seized multiple computers and electronic storage devices. An analysis of the seized items determined they contained video files of the victim and were created sometime in 2013 or 2014.

The videos were created using a cellphone or digital camera and contained lewd and lascivious images. Agents determined Farrar created the videos because the viewer can see his hand and hear his voice. Farrar also admitted to agents that he created the videos of the victim.

Agents also found a video of two other minor girls that contained lewd and lascivious images. The investigation determined that Farrar electronically transferred that video to a file on one of his computers.

“Homeland Security Investigations special agents are proud to work closely with the Sanders County Sheriff’s Department to target and arrest individuals who prey on women and children in what should be the safety of their own homes,” said Steven Cagen, Special Agent in Charge, HSI Denver. “Farrar’s sentencing sends a clear message, if you harm children, we will work tirelessly to find you and to bring you to justice.”

This case was initiated under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.