Coeur d’Alene Man Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Child Exploitation and Obscenity Charges

BOISE—Jeremy E. Durkin, 35, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, pleaded not guilty in federal court today to charges related to allegations of child exploitation and obscenity, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. A federal grand jury in Boise indicted Durkin on March 13, 2013, on one count of using a facility of interstate commerce to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity; one count of transferring obscene material to a minor; and one count of receiving sexually explicit images of a minor under the age of 16 years. The indictment alleges that the offenses occurred between December 2009 and July 2010.

The indictment alleges that Durkin was previously convicted in Kootenai County, Idaho, of sexual abuse of a child under age 16. Durkin was a registered sex offender at the time of the new allegations. He is currently an inmate at the Idaho Department of Correction.

The new federal crimes are punishable by up to life in prison.

A trial is set for May 21, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Boise.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Idaho Department of Correction.

An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”