Leonard C Boyle, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that SHAYNE SHAYER, 40, of Thompson, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to approximately one day of imprisonment, time already served, and 10 years of supervised release, for downloading child sex abuse videos from the dark web.
According to court documents and statements made in court, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigation, which was initiated by law enforcement in Europe, revealed that, in January 2018, Shayer used cryptocurrency to access a dark web server and download 43 videos depicting the sex abuse of children. The videos included depictions of incest and sodomy, and some involved children under the age of 12.
On February 22, 2021, Shayer pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child [censored]ography.
Judge Chatigny ordered Shayer to perform 200 hours community service while on supervised release, and to pay a mandatory $5,000 special assessment, which will be deposited into a fund that supports victims of child [censored]ography.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.