Local man sentenced to 100 years in prison for producing child pornography
Published at | Updated at
The following is a news release from the Idaho U.S. Attorney’s Office.
POCATELLO – Lex Bennett Goodwin, 34, of Pocatello, was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison for producing, transporting, and possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced Tuesday.
Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also sentenced Goodwin to a lifetime of supervised release and entered an order forfeiting Goodwin from using electronic devices used to commit the offenses. Goodwin was ordered to pay restitution to the victims of the offenses and will be required to register as a sex offender. Goodwin was convicted by a jury on May 23, 2019, after a four-day trial.
RELATED: Local man convicted of producing child pornography involving 16-month-old
According to court records, the investigation began in September 2017 after Google reported that child pornography had been uploaded to a Google account. An agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) obtained a federal search warrant for the Google account, which revealed that the account belonged to Goodwin.
Within the account, the agent located several sexually explicit images of a 16-month-old child that Goodwin had produced. The agent obtained additional search warrants authorizing the search and seizure of Goodwin’s electronics, including his cellphone, and a second Google account belonging to Goodwin.
Additional files of the sixteen-month-old child that Goodwin had produced were located on his cellphone and in the second Google account. The investigation further revealed that Goodwin had attempted to produce sexually explicit images of a six-year-old child and that he had possessed and transported numerous other files of child pornography.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in Idaho Falls and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, with the assistance of the Idaho Department of Correction, Minidoka County Sheriff’s Office, and Pocatello and Rupert Police Departments.