POCATELLO — Joshua Christopher Tompkins, 35, of Pocatello, was sentenced to 140 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also sentenced Tompkins to serve 15 years of supervised release following his prison term.

According to court records, in July 2022, the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force found that an electronic device with an IP address associated with Tompkins had downloaded thousands of images of child pornography. In December 2022, investigators obtained and executed a search warrant at Tompkins’s residence where they seized several electronic devices belonging to him. Upon searching Tompkins’s electronic devices, investigators discovered the thousands of illicit images that Tompkins downloaded from the internet.

U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the investigation by the Idaho ICAC Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations in Idaho Falls, the Idaho Falls Police Department, and the Pocatello Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Paskett prosecuted this case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.