MISSOULA - A Florence man who admitted to receiving numerous files of child pornography was sentenced to seven years in prison, followed by ten years of supervised release on Wednesday.
Jeffrey Brandon Zabolotney, 35, — who previously pleaded guilty in March to one count of receipt of child pornography — was also ordered to pay $51,000 in restitution to the victims, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich stated in a news release.
The government alleged in court documents that in November 2020, the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) received a report that the defendant was accessing child pornography online and that he possessed child pornography on a digital storage device.
After obtaining a search warrant for the defendant’s residence, law enforcement seized multiple computers and storage devices. The RCSO reviewed some of the seized devices and located digital files that depicted children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began assisting the Sheriff's Office with the analysis and review of additional computer items that had not been searched by the RCSO in May of 2021. After analyzing data from computers and digital storage devices that belonged to and were used by the defendant, law enforcement officers and a Certified Forensic Examiner determined that between approximately June 2017 and August 2020, the defendant received over 4,600 image files and over 135 video files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The sexually explicit conduct included children being raped and being subjected to sexually sadistic conduct. Some of the minors in the files are prepubescent. In addition to the content of the files themselves, law enforcement located other evidence that shows the defendant’s intent to commit the crime including documents with websites and passwords related to child pornography and a web history related to a user seeking child pornography.
“HSI investigators and support personnel will relentlessly use all of our investigative capabilities to punish those who engage in the despicable abuse of children, in some cases as young as infants,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, Special Agent in Charge, HSI Denver. “This sentence holds Zabolotney accountable for his atrocious crimes and serves as a warning that HSI and its law enforcement partners will work diligently to keep these predators out of Montana.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security Investigations.
