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Former North Dakota State Psychologist Who Treated Sex Offenders Busted for Child Porn
Facing a sentence ranging from 5 to 30 years, Joseph Belanger, a North Dakota psychologist who treated sex offenders at the State Hospital in Jamestown, was sentenced on January 28, 2009 to 84 months in federal prison on child pornography charges, plus lifetime supervision following his release.
Belanger, 61, had worked at the State Hospital for more than two decades and claimed he became interested in child porn while treating sex offenders there. He had pleaded guilty last year to charges of receiving and possessing materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Investigators found he had downloaded thousands of pornographic pictures and more than 200 videos.
While his state job duties may well have proved to be his undoing, as Belanger claimed, no doubt his many years of public service also served him well when he was sentenced. Not only did federal prosecutors recommend a relatively light sentence – and he received just 7 of the possible 30 years he faced – but the judge, who claimed to rarely depart from sentencing guidelines in sex offender cases, did so for Belanger because he saw “some room for optimism and hope.” Unlike other defendants convicted of child pornography charges who don’t have a background in government employment, apparently.
U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Erickson also noted that as a psychologist, Belanger “should have known there was help available” to deal with his child porn problem. See: United States v. Belanger, U.S.D.C. (D. ND), Case No. 3:08-cr-00076-RRE.
Source: Associated Press, ABC News
Belanger, 61, had worked at the State Hospital for more than two decades and claimed he became interested in child porn while treating sex offenders there. He had pleaded guilty last year to charges of receiving and possessing materials involving the sexual exploitation of minors. Investigators found he had downloaded thousands of pornographic pictures and more than 200 videos.
While his state job duties may well have proved to be his undoing, as Belanger claimed, no doubt his many years of public service also served him well when he was sentenced. Not only did federal prosecutors recommend a relatively light sentence – and he received just 7 of the possible 30 years he faced – but the judge, who claimed to rarely depart from sentencing guidelines in sex offender cases, did so for Belanger because he saw “some room for optimism and hope.” Unlike other defendants convicted of child pornography charges who don’t have a background in government employment, apparently.
U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Erickson also noted that as a psychologist, Belanger “should have known there was help available” to deal with his child porn problem. See: United States v. Belanger, U.S.D.C. (D. ND), Case No. 3:08-cr-00076-RRE.
Source: Associated Press, ABC News
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