Summary
This Second Circuit opinion affirms the conviction and 97-month sentence of Randolph Bullock for possessing child pornography. The court held that the district court properly applied a five-level sentencing enhancement for engaging in a pattern of sexual abuse of minors, reasoning that two separate incidents occurring on the same day but separated by intervening non-criminal conduct constituted distinct instances under the Sentencing Guidelines. The court also rejected challenges to the substantive reasonableness of the sentence and the procedural validity of special supervised release conditions restricting contact with minors and internet use.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Bullock's abuse of two children in different rooms at different times, separated by intervening noncriminal conduct, constituted two separate instances of sexual abuse under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(5).
- Whether Bullock's 97-month sentence was substantively unreasonable.
- Whether the district court plainly erred in imposing special conditions restricting Bullock's contact with minors, limiting him to one internet-capable device, and prohibiting him from viewing or possessing sexually explicit material.
Holdings
- Bullock's abuse of the two children constituted two separate instances of sexual abuse under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(5), so the district court properly applied the five-level pattern-of-abuse enhancement.
- Bullock's 97-month sentence was not substantively unreasonable.
- The district court did not plainly err in imposing conditions restricting Bullock's contact with minors, limiting him to one internet-capable device, and prohibiting him from viewing or possessing sexually explicit material.
Key quotations
“The fact that Bullock abused his two victims in two different rooms at two different times—with non-criminal conduct separating the acts of abuse—indicates that his crimes involved two separate instances of abuse.” (at 18)
“We conclude that Bullock engaged in two separate instances of sexual abuse and the district court properly applied U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(5)’s pattern of abuse enhancement. We also conclude that Bullock’s sentence was substantively reasonable and that the district court did not err by imposing the challenged special conditions of supervised release.” (at 32)
Factual background
Bullock possessed child pornography over an extended period and was investigated after coworkers reported his viewing of child pornography on work devices. In 2014, while serving as a church treasurer and deacon, he sexually abused two boys in different rooms of the church, with intervening noncriminal conduct between the acts. After his guilty plea to three federal possession counts, the district court applied a five-level enhancement based on the two abuse incidents and imposed a 97-month sentence, 20 years of supervised release, and conditions restricting contact with minors, internet-capable devices, and sexually explicit material.
Procedural history
A federal grand jury charged Bullock with three counts of possessing child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). Bullock pleaded guilty under a plea agreement that left open the applicability of U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(5). The district court applied the five-level enhancement, adopted a Guidelines range of 97 to 121 months, sentenced Bullock to 97 months' imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release, and imposed challenged special conditions. The Second Circuit affirmed.