A former teacher at Tenino Elementary School pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.

James Donald Mobley, 47, was arrested in January 2013 on a criminal complaint charging him with receipt and possession of child pornography.   Under the terms of the plea agreement, Mobley will undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation, will register as a sex offender and will undergo sexual deviancy treatment.  Both the prosecution and defense will recommend a four year prison term when Mobley is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton on March 21, 2014.  Judge Leighton is not bound by the plea agreement and can impose a sentence up to the statutory maximum of 20 years in prison.

According to records filed in the case, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has been investigating an international company,Azovfilms.com, which distributed child pornography through the mails and via download to personal computers.

In May 2011, foreign law enforcement executed a search of the business and seized hundreds of child pornography DVDs and business records. An analysis of those records revealed that on multiple occasions between February 2009 and January 2011, Mobley purchased suspected child pornography from the company. In a search of Mobley’s home, law enforcement seized a computer, external storage devices, and DVDs of child pornography.  An analysis of the items seized from Mobley’s home revealed 650 images of child pornography and 45 videos of child pornography.

Mobley was arrested as part of “Project Spade,” the investigation of Azovfilms.com.  The Toronto-based website billed itself as a provider of “naturist films,” but was really a distributor of child pornography.  The investigation, led in the United States by the Postal Inspection Service, has resulted in 386 children rescued from direct abuse and exploitation.   So far Mobley is one of 348 people arrested worldwide as a result of the Spade investigation.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Tenino Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marci Ellsworth.