Heyburn man faces prison for possessing explicit pictures of minors

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - A Heyburn, Idaho man faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a supervised release of 5 years to life when he is sentenced for possession of sexually explicit images of minors.

John R. Godfrey, 52, pleaded guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Pocatello. Godfrey was indicted by a Pocatello federal grand jury on February 26, 2019.

According to court records, in April 2018, detectives with the Idaho Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) Task Force interviewed Godfrey after receiving a cyber tip that he was in possession of child pornography. Godfrey admitted to receiving child pornography images and videos from other individuals in online chat groups. Godfrey also admitted that he possessed images of child pornography on his cell phone of children aged 9 to 11 years old. Investigators later searched Godfrey's cell phone and a forensic analysis found the multiple images he admitted to possessing.

Godfrey is to appear for sentencing before Chief US District Judge David C. Nye in Pocatello on April 20, 2020.

This case was investigated by the Idaho Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, with the assistance of Heyburn Police Department, and was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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 locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.