California Man Sentenced To Over 11 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation Offense Involving Two-Year-Old Child

            WASHINGTON – Jacob David Dockter, 28, of Taft, California, was sentenced today to 140 months in prison for distribution of child pornography, followed by 120 months of supervised release.

            On May 28, 2020, a law enforcement officer was acting in an undercover capacity as part of the Metropolitan Police Department-Federal Bureau of Investigation (“MPD-FBI”) Child Exploitation Task Force, operating out of a satellite office in Washington, D.C. In that capacity, the undercover officer entered a private online group devoted to the receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Dockter began communicating with the undercover officer via private message on the online platform. Dockter told the undercover officer that he was a 25-year-old man from Southern California and that he had access to a two-year-old female relative. He told the undercover officer that he had taken nude images of this two-year-old relative in the past. Dockter then sent the undercover officer multiple live nude photos of the child, as well as one sexually explicit image.

            This case was brought as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD. In February 2006, the Attorney General created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation commended the work of those who worked on the case from the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes members of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and MPD’s Youth Investigations Division. They also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caroline Burrell and April Russo, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen E. Stauss, and Paralegal Specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson.