Buyer of Child Pornography Sentenced to 5 Years’ Probation

A Tujunga man was sentenced Monday to five years’ probation for buying child-sex magazines from the Netherlands in violation of federal child-pornography laws.

As a condition of the probation, David Kenneth Myers, 55, is not allowed in the presence of minors unless their parents or guardians are present, Assistant U.S. Atty. Joyce Karlin said.

In addition, Myers’ employment and place of residence must be approved by his probation officer, and he will undergo psychiatric counseling, Karlin said.

Myers, who pleaded guilty in February to buying child pornography, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

He was one of 11 men indicted in November and December after an investigation by the Task Force on Child Pornography created by Los Angeles police and federal law-enforcement officials, Karlin said. All but one have been convicted, with the sentences ranging from probation to eight years in prison, she said.

The case against Myers began when the Customs Service seized a shipment of magazines addressed to him, Karlin said.

The task force was formed in response to the federal Child Protection Act of 1984, which is aimed at cracking down on the producers, distributors and customers of child pornography, Karlin said.

Dutch police have begun working with U.S investigators in an attempt to identify the publisher of the magazines that Myers received, she said.