United States v. Ward, No. 11-2458 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseA warrant search of Defendant's vehicle and computer yielded a video of Defendant positioning W.D., a twelve-year-old girl, while he filmed her nude body, and CDs containing images of child pornography. After Defendant was convicted in state court of raping W.D.'s sister, federal prosecutors charged him with single counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, W.D., and possession of child pornography. A jury convicted him of both counts, but the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. On remand, a jury again convicted Defendant of both counts. Defendant appealed his conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor and his sentence. The Eighth Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the jury reasonably found the images Defendant produced satisfied the statutory standard - visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct; and (2) the district court did not err in imposing Defendant's sentence.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. For the court's prior opinion in the case, see United States v. Ward, 598 F.3d 1054 (8th Cir. 2010). Evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor because in secretly filming the minor before and after she showered, he used or persuaded the girl to take part in producing a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct; district court did not abuse its discretion in weighing defendant's claimed mitigating factors and the sentence imposed was not substantively unreasonable.
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