Former Waipahu Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Producing Child Porn

File photo by Wendy Osher.

Derek West, 33, formerly of Waipahu, on Oʻahu, was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography, justice officials said.

West, who had previously pled guilty to the offense, must also serve a lifetime term of supervised release following his jail term.

Florence T. Nakakuni, US Attorney for the District of Hawaiʻi, said that according to a Dec. 16, 2014 complaint, the case began with a report to the Honolulu Police Department that child pornography had been found on West’s cell telephone.

Justice Department officials say HPD detectives obtained a search warrant for the phone, and found approximately 482 images that depicted children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Detectives with the HPD contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations later determined that 52 of the images were of a two-year-old girl, some of which showed her engaged in sexual acts with West, according to department reports.

During court proceedings, West admitted taking those pictures and sharing them over the internet.

In imposing the maximum terms of imprisonment and supervised release, US District Judge Derrick K. Watson noted that the damage done to the two-year-old victim was “immeasurable and enduring.” West has been in custody since his arrest on Dec. 16, 2014.