Paul Clement, a 41-year-old resident of Bloomer, Wisconsin, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for the transportation of child pornography. Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson handed down the sentence, which will be followed by a 20-year period of supervised release. Clement had pleaded guilty to the charge on November 26, 2024.
The case stemmed from an investigation by agents with the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations. They discovered that on January 10, 2024, Clement uploaded thirteen files containing child sexual abuse material to Google Photos and emailed three of these files to another email address he controlled. The files included videos showing the sexual assault of girls aged between 8 and 12 by adult men. In interviews with agents, Clement admitted to obtaining such videos through a social networking site focused on sexual fetishes and using it to roleplay scenarios involving child sexual abuse.
During sentencing, Judge Peterson remarked that Clement exhibited “a real and enduring interest in children,” necessitating a substantial sentence. The judge also cited Clement's criminal history and past inappropriate activities with children as aggravating factors. This includes a previous conviction for sexual assault of a child in Wisconsin in 2005.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor L. Kraus prosecuted the case resulting from this investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), an initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide by coordinating resources across federal, state, and local levels to locate and prosecute offenders while identifying and rescuing victims.