The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. (Photo via via Samuel Corum at Getty Images)
A dual Israeli-U.S. citizen who sent an undercover officer sexually explicit photographs of a girl he claimed to have been his 4-year-old daughter will spend seven years in federal prison, the Justice Department announced on Monday.
Nimrod Shalom, 41, a dual citizen of Israel and the United States, received his sentence — which comes with a term of 10 years of supervised release — for the knowing receipt and distribution of child pornography.
Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell, a Barack Obama appointee who heads the District of D.C., presided over his case and pronounced the sentence.
In 2016, Shalom sent direct messages via the free KIK messenger app to a person who turned out to be an undercover officer. In those messages, Shalom asked whether the person had a child and whether the person “played” sexually with the child. When the undercover officer said he had a daughter, Shalom offered that he was sexually active with his own four-year-old daughter — and sent photos meant to prove it, prosecutors say.
Shalom sent sexually explicit photos of a girl between four and six years old on a bed, wearing only black garter stockings, and posed in a sexual manner. He told the undercover officer that since he was “not in the US [sic],” that “no one cares what you do.”
In reality, Shalom did not have a four-year-old daughter, and the photos he shared had been commercially produced.
On Aug. 2, 2016, Israeli National Police (INP) detained and interviewed Shalom, who admitted that he had been pretending to be a father for the purpose of persuading individuals to send him child sexual abuse material, according to his sentencing memo. Shalom also posted bulletin messages using words like “taboo” and “perv” in order to attract people with a sexual interest in children.When INP analyzed Shalom’s phone, it found 23 images depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Shalom was arrested on July 23, 2021, after traveling on a plane from Israel to Los Angeles, California.
Prosecutors say that Shalom is a recidivist with a history of fantasizing about sexually abusing family.
According to prosecutors, Shalom also pleaded guilty in 2016 in California for soliciting his ex-girlfriend to send him naked photographs of herself and her 2-year old child. Shalom pleaded guilty to Possession of Child Pornography in May 2015. After pleading guilty, he moved to Israel.
“According to the California police reports, the defendant’s girlfriend reported to law enforcement that the defendant had initiated her into the practice of ‘open family’ relationships, sexually abused her two-year-old daughter, and solicited photographs of her daughter’s vagina,” the government’s sentencing memo states. “During the investigation, law enforcement also spoke with a prior girlfriend of the defendant, who had a seven-year-daughter. This woman reported that when she dated the defendant, he requested nude photographs of her daughter and suggested that they engage in both ‘family nudism’ and sexual activities with the child.”
Prosecutors say that a search of Shalom’s devices in that case revealed 476 images and 37 videos of child sexual abuse material.
In addition, and “even more concerning,” prosecutors say, “law enforcement recovered publications which instruct men on how to sexually abuse children and avoid detection by law enforcement, including titles such as ‘How to Practice Child Love’ and ‘The Pedophile’s Handbook.'”
[image via Michael Reynolds/Pool/AFP via Getty Images]
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