Investigation of online ‘Zoom rooms’ displaying child porn leads to Stanislaus man

A Salida man has been sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison for downloading hundreds of child pornography videos from the Internet.

Authorities first learned of David Jahve Nin, 40, when an undercover investigation found him on the video conferencing app Zoom. Federal agents found Nin entering online “Zoom rooms” known to display child porn, according to a document filed in federal court by his attorney.

Nin on Oct. 28 pleaded guilty to receiving material involving the sexual exploitation of children. Richard Beshwate, Nin’s attorney, wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed Jan. 14 that his client quickly admitted his role in the crime and cooperated with investigators.

From October 2014 through July 2017, Nin had collected from the Internet more than 200 videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday in a news release announcing the sentence.

The federal prosecutors also said the videos Nin had collected involved the portrayal of sadistic, masochistic and other depictions of violence, which included children as young as toddlers being sexually abused.

The defense attorney asked for a reduced sentence of 10 years in prison followed by a lengthy parole. Beshwate said Nin’s guilty plea helped the court avoid the costs and time of a trial, and his client was candid with investigators when they questioned him.

“Mr. Nin even went as far as to explain how the software and ‘Zoom rooms’ worked,” Beshwate wrote in his sentencing memo. “Furthermore, he explained his method of downloading, storing and cataloging his contraband.”

Video conferencing rooms

In October 2015, U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents in Phoenix began conducting undercover operations on the Zoom video conferencing app, according to Beshwate. The agents were looking for people who used the Zoom platform to exchange child porn.

The agents observed and tracked Nin entering the Zoom rooms displaying child porn from November 2015 through August 2017, Beshwate said in his sentencing memo.

On Aug. 30, 2017, investigators seized from Nin an iMac computer, SD cards and other digital storage devices containing child porn. A federal grand jury indicted Nin in April 2018.

After he pleaded guilty a year later, federal probation officials recommended a prison sentence of 16 years and eight months. Prosecutors agreed with the recommendation, according to a sentencing memo filed in court Dec. 31 by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Enos.

“In the case of child exploitation prosecutions, the government has a compelling interest to protect children from those who exploit them,” Enos wrote in his memo.

The prosecutor also argued that Nin has cultivated an exceedingly long criminal history that included theft, drug possession, identity theft and now his “extensive and graphic collection of child pornography.”

Nin’s attorney said his client’s property crimes were the result of a drug addiction he was trying to feed, and Nin’s admissions to investigators in this case show the defendant’s sense of right and wrong and capacity for honesty. Beshwate argued that Nin was not trying to minimize his crime, but he’s a relatively young man who can still turn his life around.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lawrence O’Neill agreed with the prosecution and sentenced Nin to 16 years and eight months in prison.

This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to bring federal and local authorities together to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 2:13 PM.