Former Idaho police officer sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for receiving CSAM, assumes woman’s identity to evade FBI

POCATELLO, Idaho (ABC4)

— A former Idaho police officer will serve almost a decade behind bars for receiving child sex abuse material.

Caleb Sickinger, 45, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison for his role in obtaining images of a child from social media, digitally altering them to appear pornographic, and distributing the altered images to an individual in Alabama.

The investigation began in Alabama when FBI agents located and arrested an individual in possession of CSAM. Following their arrest, the individual told police they received the material from a woman in Idaho.

Agents were able to locate the alleged woman and execute a search warrant of her home. However, no devices were found with CSAM. Email addresses did not match those used by the woman.

After an in-depth investigation, FBI agents found the woman was uninvolved in the crime, and Sickinger had assumed her identity without her knowledge. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Idaho, Sickinger utilized images from the woman’s social media account to mascaraed as her when distributing the material.

“This defendant victimized a child and her mother in committing this horrible crime,” Acting U.S. Attorney Whatcott said.

The investigation involved the FBI, the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, the Idaho Falls Police Department, and the Idaho ICAC Task Force. The case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Justin Paskett.

Special Agent in Charge, Mehtab Syed, of the Salt Lake City FBI said his team is “unwavering and united with our partners in the fight to protect our children from predators who seek to exploit.”