Meridian man sentenced for having over 10,000 child porn images

James Maxheimer, 46, of Meridian, was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday -- followed by five years of supervised release -- for possessing 10,550 child porn images, according to U.S. Attorney Bart Davis.

According to court documents, between May and June of 2016, detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force downloaded images of child pornography from the defendant’s computer using a peer to peer network.  

On July 13, 2016, ICAC detectives served a search warrant at the defendant’s home in Boise.  “They discovered an external hard drive hidden in an ‘Asteroids’ video game console, and two laptop computers. The defendant admitted downloading images of child pornography using the peer to peer network on his computer, and to storing the images on the external hard drive,” a news release from Davis’ office stated.

“Detectives say they found 10,172 images and 378 videos depicting child pornography, including images of infants, toddlers, and children subjected to sadistic and masochistic conduct,” the release said.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill also ordered Maxheimer to pay $5,100 in special assessments and forfeit the external hard drive and two laptop computers used in the commission of the crime. 

Maxheimer will be required to register as a sex offender.