5 years for ex-Customs exec who got child porn

The U.S. District Court yesterday sentenced a former CNMI Customs official to five years imprisonment for receiving child pornography.

Chief Judge Alex R. Munson also imposed a $10,000 fine on Crispin Atalig Taitano, a 55-year-old Rota businessman.

Taitano operated Cue Time, a bar, pool hall and computer video-arcade frequented by children on Rota. On April 22, 2004, Bureau of Investigation agents and federal postal inspectors arrested Taitano in a raid on the establishment.

The judge also ordered Taitano to register with the National Sex Offender Registry and recommended the Bureau of Prisons to facilitate mental health counseling for the defendant, before remanding him to the custody of the U.S. Marshal. Taitano would be on supervised release for three years after serving the full term of his imprisonment sentence.

“[Taitano] shall pay a monthly cost of $1,933.80 for his imprisonment and pay a monthly cost of $287.73 for his supervised release. Further, the defendant shall make co-payments for his drug treatment program and his mental health treatment program at a rate to be determined by the U.S. Probation Office,” ordered the judge.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the child pornography tapes and CD-ROM disks seized from him by Postal Inspectors, along with the computer equipment Taitano used to obtain child pornography via the Internet.

Taitano had entered a “guilty” plea to a charge of receiving child pornography between Oct. 11, 2003 and April 22, 2004, including 10 to 150 porn images of pre-pubescent minors under the age of 12.

The court dismissed two other charges against Taitano after the defendant entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Federal prosecutor Jamie Bowers handled the case’s prosecution.

U.S. Attorney Leonardo A. Rapadas warned that investigation of other child pornography and sexual exploitation cases in the CNMI continues.

“Federal law enforcement officials encourage any individuals with information concerning this investigation, or other cases involving child pornography and child sexual exploitation to contact the United States Postal Inspection Service, Guam office at (671) 735-2124,” Rapadas’ office said in a press statement yesterday.