西弗吉尼亚州前校车司机Fleckenstein判20年：运输儿童性虐待材料、设备查获逾千份非法影像，赔偿8.35万美元
西弗吉尼亚州巴伯县 Belington 市男子 Arlin James Fleckenstein（36岁）因运输儿童性虐待材料被判联邦监禁240个月（20年）。西弗吉尼亚北区联邦检察官 Matthew L. Harvey 10月29日宣布了这一判决。Fleckenstein 还被判令向材料中的受害者支付赔偿83,500美元。
2023年，Fleckenstein 受雇担任校车司机并住在一处度假村内期间，向一个在线文件共享服务上传了数千份儿童性虐待材料文件，由此引来一条网络举报线索并启动调查。调查期间，调查人员又收到来自 Instagram 的第二条线索，涉及一名成年人在另一个州与一名未成年人进行露骨对话。两条线索最终都指向 Fleckenstein。
调查人员持搜查令检查其电子设备，查获1,000多份非法图片与视频，还发现他在多个社交媒体平台上与多名其他受害者的对话记录。
本案属于司法部「Project Safe Childhood」（儿童安全计划）的一部分，该全国性计划自2006年5月启动，整合联邦、州与地方资源，打击利用互联网剥削儿童的行为并识别、解救受害者。案件由联邦调查局（FBI）与西弗吉尼亚州警调查，助理联邦检察官 David Perri 负责起诉，联邦首席地区法官 Thomas S. Kleeh 主持审理。
Former West Virginia Bus Driver Fleckenstein Sentenced to 20 Years for Transporting Child Sexual Abuse Material; Over 1,000 Illegal Images and Videos Found, $83,500 Restitution Ordered
Arlin James Fleckenstein, 36, of Belington, in Barbour County, West Virginia, was sentenced to 240 months — 20 years — in federal prison for transporting child sexual abuse material, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia Matthew L. Harvey announced on October 29. Fleckenstein was also ordered to pay $83,500 in restitution to victims in the material.
In 2023, while employed as a bus driver and living on the grounds of a resort, Fleckenstein uploaded thousands of files containing child sexual abuse material to an online file-sharing service, prompting a cyber tip and a subsequent investigation. During the inquiry, investigators received a second cyber tip from Instagram involving an adult engaged in an explicit conversation with a minor in another state. Both tips were traced to Fleckenstein.
A search warrant for his electronic devices uncovered more than 1,000 illegal images and videos, along with additional conversations with other victims on various social media platforms.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, marshaling federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, and to identify and rescue victims. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the West Virginia State Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Perri prosecuted the case, and Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Kleeh presided.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：西弗吉尼亚州巴伯县法院入口，位于 Philippi。Valerius Tygart 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The entrance of the Barbour County Courthouse in Philippi, West Virginia. Photo by Valerius Tygart, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
