Man enters plea in child porn case

A Mountain Home man whose son was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for possessing child pornography pled guilty to similar charges in U.S. District Court on Thursday.

Michael J. Ebenhoeh, 53, pled guilty to possessing and accessing child pornography with intent to view sexually explicit images of minors during his hearing at the courthouse in Boise.

According to U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson, Ebenhoeh was charged by information on March 7.

According to court documents, members of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force determined that multiple digital files known to contain child pornography were being downloaded and offered for sharing from a residence in Mountain Home between Nov. 10, 2010, and July 18, 2011. The images involved very young children.

In September 2011, law enforcement authorities executed a search warrant at the residence and seized several computers. At the time of the search, authorities arrested Ebenhoeh's son, Joseph E. Ebenhoeh.

On the day of the search, an investigator approached Michael Ebenhoeh and said a file containing child pornography was found on his computer. At that time, he denied knowing how the child pornography files were on his computer.

A further investigation determined that separate Internet accounts in the home were associated with Ebenhoeh and his son. In addition, the computer belonging to Michael Ebenhoeh was not been used by his son.

According to the plea agreement, investigators interviewed Michael Ebenhoeh again, who admitted he lied to police during the earlier interview.

He then admitted he used the computer to search online for pornography depicting children four or five times a week over the previous year. Forensic examination of the computer found sexually explicit images of children between two and 14 years of age. Several children were identified as sexual abuse victims from Missouri, Nevada, Maryland and Washington state.

Ebenhoeh faces up to 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to lifetime supervised release. His sentencing is set for July 22 before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.

In 2012, his son pled guilty to two counts of possessing sexually explicit images of minors. Last July, he was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison without the possibility of parole.

The case was investigated Boise Police Department detectives with the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The joint investigation involved the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's homeland security investigations unit and the Mountain Home Police Department.