PORTLAND — A Rockland woman was sentenced Jan. 18, 2024, in U.S. District Court, in Portland, for distributing child sexual abuse materials.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy sentenced Bianca Van Valkenburg, 29, to 10 years followed by eight years of supervised release, according to the Maine District of the United States Attorney’s Office, in a news release.

According to court records, in August 2020, detectives with the Hillsborough County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office recovered videos of child sexual abuse of an infant from a seized cell phone. After determining that the videos had been sent by Van Valkenburg using the Kik platform, officers executed a search warrant at her Rockland home in October 2020.

“Van Valkenburg admitted to investigators that she sent multiple videos between June 2018 and November 2018,” said the release.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case with assistance from the Maine State Police, Hillsborough County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office and the Rockland Police Department.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: Child sexual abuse material – "child pornography" – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer revictimization every time the images are viewed. File a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at https://report.cybertip.org  or 1-800-843-5678. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

Project Safe Childhood: 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. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals 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, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.