SAN JOSE ─ LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – A Japanese national and former executive for a Silicon Valley company has been sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release on a possession of child pornography charge.
Hidemi Fuse, 46, was sentenced on September 21 by U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose. Fuse pleaded guilty in May to a one count information charging him with possession of child pornography.
The investigation into Fuse stemmed from an international child pornography probe into a Belarus-based Internet billing company, which allegedly provided credit card billing services for some 50 child pornography websites worldwide and operated child porn websites on its own. A lead arising out of that investigation led to a search of Fuse’s Mountain View home in December 2003. At the residence, agents found approximately 500 pornographic images of children and more than 40 movies featuring child pornography. The following day Fuse returned to Japan. He was arrested when he attempted to return the United States for a conference in November 2004. Upon completion of his sentence, Fuse also faces deportation.
Shawna Yen is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Technician Tracey Andersen. The prosecution is the result of a year-long investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE encourages the reporting of suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
Further Information:
A copy of this press release and related court filings may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Further procedural and docket information along with electronic court filings for criminal cases filed since February 2005 are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/ (click on the link for “to retrieve documents from the court.”)
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757 or by email at Luke.Macaulay@usdoj.gov.
