Spokane, Washington – First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced that on September 15, 2026, United States District Court Judge Rebecca L. Pennell sentenced Shawn P. Sather to a total of 18 years in custody—15 years imposed after a plea of guilty to Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography, and an additional 3 years imposed based on admissions to violations of the conditions of federal supervised release. Sather will also serve a lifetime of supervised release and will be required to pay $15,000 under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Assistance Act of 2018.
According to court documents and public proceedings, Sather has a long history of crimes related to child sexual abuse material. In 2001, Sather was discharged from the military after a conviction for receipt and possession of child pornography. Following a prison sentence in that case, Sather was again investigated for similar behavior. In 2011, a search warrant was executed twice at his residence in search of child sexual abuse material, ultimately resulting in federal charges and a federal conviction for Receipt of Child Pornography. He received a sentence of 120 months in federal prison and was released in 2019.
Following his release from that sentence, Sather was placed on federal supervised release. He violated those conditions on multiple occasions, resulting in short prison sentences. The investigation into the instant case arose when a probation officer received notification of suspicious internet activity on Sather’s phone, resulting in a search of Sather’s phone and other online accounts. Sather ultimately admitted to seeking out images of sexual abuse material during his entire time on federal supervision, including images of infants and young children.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Pennell rejected Sather’s argument that he had recently deleted images of child sexual abuse material because he had decided to change. Rather, Judge Pennell noted that Sather was likely attempting to hide the material, based on his decades-long pattern of accessing such images. Judge Pennell acknowledged the severity of Sather’s offenses, noting the significant impact these crimes have on vulnerable victims.
“Crimes against children are among the worst offenses in society,” stated Serrano. “Sather chose to victimize children for decades and persistently sought of images of sexual abuse. My office will aggressively protect our community by continually prosecuting individuals, like Sather, who seek to harm children. The sentence today reflects the extreme harm which individuals like Sather can cause.”"Shawn Sather has demonstrated a pattern of criminal conduct across at least 25 years by repeatedly seeking out child exploitation material online,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “These thousands of images represent real children, and re-victimize them every time they are shared or copied. Tragically, Sather's actions have made it clear that the only way to stop his harmful behavior is yet another prison sentence. The FBI and our partners remain vigilant and determined to hold child predators accountable.”
This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Spokane Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca Perez.2:25-CR-146-RLP; 2:11-CR-3-RLP.