East Bay Man Sentenced To Over Six Years In Prison For Possessing Child Pornography

 OAKLAND – Shawn Jamison Prichard was sentenced today to 78 months in prison, for possession of child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King.  The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., U.S. District Judge.

Prichard, 42, of Antioch, pleaded guilty to the charge on March 31, 2021.  According to the plea agreement, Prichard admitted that he knew he was in possession of sexually explicit images of children.  The images included videos and images showing prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct as well as images of sadistic or masochistic depictions of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct and visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct perpetrated by adults on infants or toddlers.  Prichard admitted to possessing more than 600 images of child pornography. Documents filed by the government in the case establish that an investigation into Prichard began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a Cybertip from a social media company.  At the time the Cybertip was made, Prichard worked as a registered nurse for a hospital in the East Bay.

On February 12, 2021, Prichard was charged by information with a single count of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(4)(B) and (b)(2).  He pleaded guilty to the count.  

In addition to the prison term, Judge Gilliam also sentenced the defendant to a five-year term of supervised release and scheduled a hearing for October 20, 2021, to consider issues regarding restitution.  Judge Gilliam ordered the defendant to begin serving his prison term on or before September 29, 2021. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan U. Lee is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kay Konopaske, Kathleen Turner, and Leeya Kekona.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by HSI, the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.