CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA — Justin Michael Beauvais, 39, of Summerville, was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography.

Evidence presented to the Court showed that in October 2020, Beauvais was a subcontractor working at the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) at McMurdo Station in Antarctica but was on leave in South Carolina. While on leave, he accepted a new job and contacted his coworkers at McMurdo station to request that they mail his personal hard drive to his home in Summerville, South Carolina. On October 8, 2020, Beauvais emailed his coworkers and requested they reformat his hard drive and mail it to him. On October 13, 2020, a coworker located the hard drive and viewed it to download movies. At that time, the coworker located a video that depicted a nude prepubescent girl. The coworkers reported the incident, and superiors confirmed that there was child pornography on the hard drive.

On October 28, 2020, Beauvais waived his Miranda rights and was interviewed by Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents. Beauvais initially denied having child pornography on the hard drive. Thereafter, Beauvais consented to a polygraph examination and consented to all his electronics being seized from his residence. Beauvais admitted to possessing child pornography on the hard drive that was in Antarctica. Beauvais stated he copied child pornography from his personal device in South Carolina to the hard drive and then took the hard drive with him to Antarctica.

Agents obtained consent to search Beauvais’ residence and seized numerous electronic devices following the search, including hard drives, laptops, and cell phones. A review of the devices revealed thousands of images depicting child pornography, including images depicting pre-pubescent minors and toddlers.

United States District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks sentenced Beauvais to 97 months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system. Judge Hendricks also ordered Beauvais to pay $51,500 in restitution to the victims.

The case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean H. Secor and Emily E. Limehouse prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.

Original source can be found here.