Southeast Montana News

A Missoula man was sentenced to five years in prison for receiving and storing thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse material from the internet. U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced that Bryan Michael Balog, 31, pleaded guilty in May to receipt of child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided over the case and ordered $39,000 restitution to 13 victims. The sentence includes 10 years of supervised release following the prison term.

In court documents, it was alleged that in September 2022, Dropbox reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that a user had uploaded images of child sexual abuse materials to its server. The Missoula Police Department's investigation determined that the Dropbox account belonged to Balog. Images found in Balog’s account included children as young as babies engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

A Missoula Police detective executed a search warrant at Balog’s home where he admitted he had been "saving" images and videos of child pornography from the internet since 2011. Electronic devices seized from his home contained thousands of such images and videos.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case with investigations conducted by the Missoula Police Department, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and FBI.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood aims to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet while identifying and rescuing victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit Justice.gov/PSC.

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