Child pornographer receives maximum 30-year sentence

A federal judge handed down a 30-year prison sentence Wednesday to a man who took pictures of himself sexually assaulting a 2-year-old girl that he traded over the Internet for more child pornography.

Derek M. West of Waipio pleaded guilty in a deal with federal prosecutors in October to a single count of producing child pornography. He had been charged with three counts of producing and one of possessing child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson sentenced West to the maximum penalty allowed in the plea agreement.

“If it were up to me, it would have been north of that,” Watson said. He said the scar West inflicted on his victim is immeasurable and enduring.

Upon release from prison, West must register as a convicted sex offender and will be under court supervision for the rest of his life.

Honolulu police said when they searched West’s Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone in December 2014, they found it contained more than 480 images of child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Tong told Watson that more images were found on West’s desktop computer. He said 52 of the images were of the 2-year-old girl, which West used as currency to trade for more child pornography.

Tong recommended the maximum 30-year sentence because he said West’s deviant behavior had gotten him in trouble with the law before and that he is either unable or unwilling to control his impulses.

He said West underwent therapy after he was arrested in 2006 for masturbating on a public bus in front of another passenger.

And Tong said West’s actions will continue to haunt his victim because the images were put on the Internet. He said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will notify the victim whenever authorities find her image in another person’s collection.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Shanlyn Park said West’s father was convicted of a similar offense. She said while West was growing up in foster care in California, he suffered physical, mental and probably sexual abuse. She asked Watson to consider giving West a break because of his service in the Navy.

Watson said he didn’t give West a break for his military service because the Navy gave him an other than honorable discharge for substance abuse.

West said he apologizes to the people he hurt and hopes to one day earn their forgiveness.