Former Casper Resident Gets 12+Years for 2nd Child Porn Possession

A former Casper resident on Thursday received a 12-year, 4-month sentence for a second-time conviction of possession of child pornography.

Brian Joseph Nielsen, 38, heard 148-month sentence handed down from Chief U.S. District Court Scott Skavdahl federal court in Casper.

Besides the prison term, Skavdahl ordered Nielsen to spend 15 years on supervised probation after his release from custody and pay a $100 special assessment.

He also was assessed $3,000 in restitution according to the Victims of Sex Trafficking Act of 2015, and $3,000 per victim pursuant to the Amy, Vicky and Andy Child Pornography Assistance Act of 2018. However, Skavdahl waived those restitution payments because Nielsen did not have the ability to pay.

Skavdahl disagreed with the pre-sentence report recommending a sentence of 135 months, a prison term also recommended by the prosecution and defense.

His disagreement also was based on what happened on and after January 2011 when former Chief U.S. District Court Judge William Downes sentenced Nielsen to a 11-year, 3-month prison term for three counts of interstate shipment of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

After his release from custody, Nielsen violated the terms of his probation and received short prison terms for those violations.

In the current case, the federal grand jury indicted Nielsen on March 16, and he pleaded guilty on May 16.

During Thursday's hearing, Skavdahl dismissed a request that Nielsen be allowed to access legal, adult pornography during his supervised probation even though the defendant had a First Amendment right to view it.

Defense Attorney Craig Silva said it was too soon to tell if Nielsen would relapse into looking at child pornography if allowed to look at adult pornography

"It's not appropriate to make that determination today," Silva said. "The world of pornography will be completely different than today. I'm not endorsing that either way."

He asked for the low end of the possible sentence of 135 months to 168 months according to federal sentencing guidelines.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christyne Martens also asked for the 135-month sentence to be followed by 10 years of supervised probation.

But Skavdahl didn't think those recommendations went far enough.

"I have a defendant in front of me with a terrible addiction," he said.

Downes' set a number of restrictions in the first case including not having unsupervised contact with minor children, as well as not having access to any pornography, Skavdahl said. "The restrictions were to keep him from going down that slippery slope."

Citing Nielsen's own testimony -- after being advised of his rights, Skavdahl said that for Nielsen, adult pornography is a gateway to child pornography.

During the investigation of this case, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation obtained a cell phone that Nielson bought strictly for accessing child pornography. That cell phone had 2,000 videos, and another one had 1,051 videos.

Nielsen's addiction, Skavdahl said, was so severe that it interfered with basic life activities including going to work and establishing relationships.

Most concerning, the judge added, was that Nielsen believed he didn't need treatment because he already knows what treatment does.

At the end of the hearing, Skavdahl said he could argue in his head for a longer sentence, but believed the 148-month term is sufficient but not greater than necessary to protect the public, serve as a deterrent, and offer an opportunity for treatment.

Finally, he told Nielsen, "You need to address these issues."

The government regards child pornography as a crime of violence because it involves brutal assaults on very young children who cannot give consent to sexual activity.