Honolulu Man Sentenced to 5 Years Prison for Possession of Child Porn

Prince Kuhio Federal Building

A Honolulu man was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of child pornography, the Department of Justice reported last week.

Tyler Pang, 20, was sentenced on July 29 by United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi. Pang is also required to register as a sex offender in the jurisdiction(s) where he resides, is employed, or is a student.

Charges stem from an incident when Pang found a sexually explicit video of a juvenile female online. After identifying her and finding her social media account, Pang contacted the female with threats to disseminate her sexually explicit video unless she produced more explicit images for him.

“When she refused to comply with his demands, Pang distributed the explicit video to her friends on social media and continued to threaten her over the course of months,” the DOJ press release stated.

In addition, Pang admitted possessing a collection of child pornography that he offered for sale on the internet.

“The defendant’s despicable conduct in this case appropriately landed him in federal prison for years, where he can reflect upon the harm he caused the victim,” stated U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price. “As the prosecution made clear, Pang weaponized a sexually explicit video of a minor in his attempt to satisfy his desire for explicit photos of her.”

Price stated that his office will continue to seek justice for victims of this kind of extortion, as well as those who victimize young people by contributing to the market for child pornography by possessing, distributing, or producing it.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Identifying predators who exploit the innocence of a child will always be a top priority for the FBI. Tyler Pang possessed sexual images of children and distributed the images over the internet. Today’s sentencing highlights the hard work of the men and women of the FBI and puts a child predator offline,” said Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Eli S. Miranda.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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, visit www.justice.gov/psc.