Child porn convict violated probation, documents say

SANDPOINT — A Bayview man convicted of possessing child pornography could be headed to prison.

Benjamin James Leavitt escaped a custodial prison term after spending 93 days in jail while awaiting trial on charges of possessing and distributed child porn and attempting to destroy evidence in the case, 1st District Court records show.

Leavitt, 40, ultimately entered into an agreement which saw him plead guilty to the child porn possession charge in exchange for a dismissal of the remaining charges.

Leavitt turned up on the radar of the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in 2015 for allegedly offering digital images of child pornography for download through a peer-to-peer computer file-sharing network. Task force agents discovered he was running a program commonly used to delete computer files.

Investigators managed to halt the program before all of the incriminating evidence was destroyed, according to court documents.

Leavitt was given a suspended two- to five-year prison term, but Leavitt is accused of violating the terms of his probation by continuing to use the internet and a satellite service to access pornography in May and June. Leavitt admitted to viewing and recording adult heterosexual porn, according to court documents.

Leavitt made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Monday via video feed from the jail. Judge Tera Harden set Leavitt’s bail at $40,000. An admit/deny hearing on the alleged probation violations is pending.