United States v. Erickson

388 F. Supp. 3d 1086
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedJune 27, 2019
DocketCase No. 18-CR-0030 (PJS)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 388 F. Supp. 3d 1086 (United States v. Erickson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Erickson, 388 F. Supp. 3d 1086 (D. Me. 2019).

Opinion

Patrick J. Schiltz, United States District Judge

Defendant Bryan Scott Erickson previously pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2) and (b)(1). On July 19, 2018, the Court sentenced Erickson to 75 months' imprisonment and 10 years' supervised release; the Court deferred a decision on restitution. The parties have been unable to reach an agreement on restitution, so the matter is back before the Court.

The government seeks restitution for seven victims who were depicted in the child pornography that Erickson received. Specifically, the government requests $3,000 for two of Erickson's victims ("Sarah" from the "Marineland" series and "Cindy"), and $2,000 for five other victims ("Angela," "Maureen" from the "Lighthouse" series, "Pia" from the "Sweet Sugar" series, "Emily" from the "Tightsngold" series, and "Vicky"). Erickson concedes *1088that he owes restitution, but objects to the government's requested amounts. Erickson proposes no alternative restitution amounts, but instead asks the Court to use its "abundant discretion" to fashion appropriate awards.

On March 12, 2019, the Court held an evidentiary hearing and, with respect to each victim, examined the factors identified by the United States Supreme Court in Paroline v. United States , 572 U.S. 434, 134 S. Ct. 1710, 188 L.Ed.2d 714 (2014). Based on the evidence submitted at the hearing, the Court orders Erickson to pay a total of $12,500 in restitution-specifically, $3,000 to Cindy and to Sarah from the Marineland series, $2,000 to Angela and to Emily from the Tightsngold series, $1,500 to Pia from the Sweet Sugar series, $1,000 to Maureen from the Lighthouse series, and nothing to Vicky.

A. Standard of Review

Restitution is mandatory under 18 U.S.C. § 2259.1 Section 2259 requires that all defendants convicted of crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children (including defendants who, like Erickson, are convicted of receiving child pornography) pay restitution to their victims. Each victim is entitled to restitution covering the full amount of her losses, including:

(A) medical services relating to physical, psychiatric, or psychological care;
(B) physical and occupational therapy or rehabilitation;
(C) necessary transportation, temporary housing, and child care expenses;
(D) lost income;
(E) attorneys' fees, as well as other costs incurred; and
(F) any other losses suffered by the victim as a proximate result of the offense.

18 U.S.C. § 2259(b)(3)(A)-(F).

In Paroline , the Supreme Court set forth a framework for determining how much of a victim's total losses should be paid by a particular child-pornography defendant. The Court suggested that "district courts might, as a starting point, determine the amount of the victim's losses caused by the continuing traffic in the victim's images ... then set an award of restitution in consideration of factors that bear on the relative causal significance of the defendant's conduct in producing those losses." Paroline , 134 S. Ct. at 1728. The Court explained that the following factors "could" serve as "rough guideposts" in the relative-causal-significance inquiry:

[T]he number of past criminal defendants found to have contributed to the victim's general losses; reasonable predictions of the number of future offenders likely to be caught and convicted for crimes contributing to the victim's general losses; any available and reasonably reliable estimate of the broader number of offenders involved (most of whom will, of course, never be caught or convicted); whether the defendant reproduced or distributed images of the victim; whether the defendant had any connection to the initial production of the images; how many images of the victim the defendant possessed; and other facts relevant to the defendant's relative causal role.

Id.

Whatever its theoretical appeal, the Paroline framework is very difficult-if not *1089impossible-to apply in practice.2 For example, while trial judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys may have anecdotal evidence about the popularity of a particular child-pornography series (based on how often the judges or attorneys have worked on cases involving the series), there is simply no way for any judge or attorney to make a "reasonable prediction[ ]" about "the broader number of offenders involved" or "the number of future offenders likely to be caught and convicted[.]" Paroline , 134 S. Ct. at 1728. Billions of people around the globe now have access to the Internet, and technology is advancing rapidly and unpredictably. Those who view child pornography do so furtively, and law-enforcement resources are extremely limited, meaning that only a tiny fraction of those who view child pornography are detected, even fewer are prosecuted, even fewer are ordered to pay restitution, and even fewer actually make restitution payments. Courts can know only that the number of past, present, and future offenders is "tragically large." Id. at 1734 (Roberts, C.J., dissenting); see also DiLeo , 58 F. Supp. 3d at 245 (stating that it is hard to imagine how estimating the number of offenders involved "could be more than a wild guess" (citation omitted)).

Even Paroline 's suggested "starting point"-"the amount of the victim's losses caused by the continuing traffic in the victim's images"-is nearly impossible for courts to reliably ascertain.

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Bluebook (online)
388 F. Supp. 3d 1086, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-erickson-med-2019.