Boise Man Sentenced To 30 Years For Producing Child Pornography

BOISE, IDAHO — 29-year-old Zane Beckman of Boise, Ohio has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced Tuesday.

According to a news release by the United States Attorney’s Office District of Idaho, court records state that the investigation began in April 2020, when the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a report that Beckman solicited explicit images from a 10-year-old Texas child online.

That August, authorities searched Beckman’s residence in Boise and collected electronic devices including his cell phone, the District of Idaho said in the news release. On Beckman’s phone, they found explicit photos of a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old that Beckman took in his residence along with hundreds of other child pornography photos.

In addition, authorities found evidence that Beckman communicated with minors online, soliciting and receiving explicit images from them, according to the District of Idaho.

Beckman has also been ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release following his prison sentence, to give up the electronic devices that were used in the crimes, and to pay $69,053.12 in restitution to the victims in the images he produced and possessed. He also paid $68,000 in lieu of forfeiture of his residence and will be required to register as a sex offender.

“This sentence sends the message that significant time in federal prison awaits those who produce, distribute, or possess child pornography,” U.S. Attorney Hurwit said in the news release. “We will continue to vigorously pursue anyone involved in these crimes.”