Ammon man sent to prison for child pornography charges

Timothy Kim Stillman appearing over video for his sentencing from the Bonneville County Jail
IDAHO FALLS — A local judge sent an Ammon man to prison Wednesday for viewing child pornography.
Timothy Kim Stillman, 54, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of willfully possessing child pornography as part of a plea agreement with Bonneville County prosecutors. After the plea, District Judge Bruce Pickett sentenced Stillman to spend between two and 10 years in prison and pay a $1,000 fine.
“I’m very sorry for what I did,” Stillman said just before Pickett handed down the sentence. “I do express remorse for that. I do want to get treatment and get help for what I’ve done. I know it’s what I did. I don’t plan on doing it again.”
As part of the plea agreement made, three additional counts of possessing child pornography were dismissed.
Investigators discovered the child pornography after detectives learned Stillman posed as a 19-year-old named TJ to contact teenage girls on Facebook. According to court documents, Stillman claimed he said he had no interest in meeting the girls for sex and unfriended them if he learned they were under 18.

The sentencing of Tim Stillman
During interviews with investigators in January, Stillman admitted to viewing child pornography as his addiction to legal pornographic images progressed into images that were illegal. On a laptop in Stillman’s home, detectives found over 4,000 images of child pornography with children as young as 3 years old.
“He has developed an addiction to porn. Being exposed to porn at an early age has now triggered this illegal behavior,” Defense attorney Jason Gustaves said. “Evidently, according to the evaluation that was done, the earlier use of porn that he had was within the legal bounds.”
Gustaves went on to say that Stillman struggles with mental health. He called Stillman a hermit and people pleaser that could be victimized while in prison. He said that Stillman is so non-social he is a low-risk to offend victims face-to-face.
The attorney asked Pickett to place Stillman on probation or a rider program.
“Obviously, these crimes are very, very serious as they deal with the exploitation and abuse of children,” Bonneville County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Alex Muir said. “People like the defendant who possess this create a market for those individuals who are producing this type of material. These children are helpless. They are victims and Mr. Stillman is contributing to that criminal enterprise.”
As part of the plea agreement, Muir recommended that Stillman spend three to 10 years in prison.
Once released from an Idaho Department of Correction prison, Stillman will have to register as a sex offender.
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Source: eastidahonews.com