Oregon man sentenced to 24 months in prison for possession of child pornography

Eugene, OREGON – According to the court documents, his name is Johnny Dale Hale and he was was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Authorities say that the 44-year-old man was also sentenced to five years’ supervised release.

Hale was also ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution to his victims.

In 2016, the defendant was working as a crew member aboard the Bell M. Shimada. The vessel was experiencing technical connectivity issues and the IT team began running diagnostics.

The technician discovered two new folders on the ship’s server containing what he believed to be child pornography.

Investigators say that the defendant’s employee access card was associated with the time and date the folders were initially accessed. He allegedly used two different vessel workstations to access the server at the exact time the folders were created.

Investigators discovered 109 pornographic web links and confirmed the presence of child pornography. On April 23, 2021, Hale pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.