Ulen, Minnesota Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for
Possession of Child Pornography

FARGO - United States Attorney Drew Wrigley announces that on March 28, 2008, Hilary A. Edwards of Ulen, Minnesota, pleaded guilty and was sentenced before United States District Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson for possession of child pornography.

Edwards, 38, pleaded guilty to possessing between 10 and 150 images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including some depictions which portrayed sadistic and violent conduct. The depictions had been downloaded from the Internet. The incident occurred in September of 2007 in West Fargo.

Judge Erickson sentenced Edwards to ten years’ imprisonment to be followed by supervised release for life. Edwards, who has a robbery conviction, three convictions for sexual abuse of minors, and a conviction for failure to register as a predatory offender, will also be required to register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the West Fargo Police Department.

First Assistant United States Attorney Lynn Jordheim prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse was launched. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/ .

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