Source: Office of United States Attorneys
BOISE – Gary Hastler, 67, of Delaware, Ohio, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today.
According to court records, the investigation began when the teenaged victim disclosed to the Boise Police Department (BPD) that Hastler had sexually abused her on multiple occasions in the summer of 2022. During the investigation, BPD learned that Hastler had sexually abused another child in Ohio. While investigating the abuse in Ohio, the Delaware Police Department located explicit images of the Idaho victim on Hastler’s cellphone. BPD obtained a federal search warrant for the cellphone and confirmed that Hastler had produced sexually explicit images of the Idaho victim while at a hotel in Boise.
U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford also sentenced Hastler to a lifetime term of supervised release. Hastler will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of the conviction.
“This case demonstrates the national reach of our efforts to bring to justice those who abuse and exploit children,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit. “The partnerships we have in Idaho are effective at identifying sex offenders, and we will track them down wherever they may be.”
U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the cooperative efforts of the Boise Police Department, the Delaware Police Department, and the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force which led to charge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kassandra McGrady prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. As part of Project Safe Childhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and the Idaho Attorney General’s Office partner to marshal federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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