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Date: 02-23-2024
Case Style:
Case Number: 2:21-CR-66
Judge: Christina Reiss
Court: The United States Court for the District of Vermont (Chittenden County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Court in Burlington
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
Scott Remick, 48, of Shoreham, Vermont, was sentenced in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont, to serve 80 months in prison after his guilty plea to one count of receipt of child pornography (also known as child sexual abuse material, or CSAM). United States District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered Remick to serve a 14-year term of supervised release and to pay two assessments: $5,000 pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, and $5,000 pursuant to the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018.
According to court records and proceedings, on June 16, 2021, a source of information (SOI), who is a private software developer and security analyst and who is part of a group of individuals involved in analyzing a specific piece of software with a specific security vulnerability, identified a computer with the security vulnerability (the Target Computer). The SOI accessed the Target Computer, including the contents of an encrypted volume mounted on it. The SOI viewed some of the image files in that container and discovered that they depicted CSAM. The SOI also created a text file that contained directories and file names of files located in the encrypted volume. The file names indicated that the files contained sexually explicit content involving children.
The SOI reported its findings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and to the Vermont State Police (VSP). VSP reached out to special agents with the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). After HSI spoke with the SOI and conducted additional investigation into the suspected user of the Target Computer, Scott Remick, agents obtained a warrant to search remotely electronically stored information at Remick’s residence, and a second warrant to search Remick’s residence.
On July 3, 2021, HSI agents executed the remote search warrant and recovered CSAM images, as well as items associated with Remick. On July 7, 2021, HSI agents executed the warrant to search Remick’s residence. Agents determined that a self-built computer at the residence was the same one searched pursuant to the remote search warrant. Agents found additional CSAM images on the self-built computer.
Through additional investigation, law enforcement discovered that, in 2012, Remick met a then-17-year old female on an online dating application when Remick was 37 years old. Remick and the minor female began communicating and eventually began sharing sexually explicit photos of themselves, including photos of the minor female engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, the Vermont State Police, and the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in the investigation and prosecution of Remick.
Barbara A. Masterson, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, represented the government. Assistant Federal Public Defender Steven L. Barth represented Remick.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
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Defendant's Experts:
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