Consultant sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison for possessing child porn

An Oakland man has been sentenced in federal court to five years and 10 months in prison for possessing hundreds of images of child pornography on his computers and other electronic devices.

Arnold Fischman, 69, an affordable housing consultant, was given the prison term by U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland on Monday.

Gilliam also ordered him to pay a $15,000 fine plus restitution of $5,000 to one of the victims depicted.

Fischman pleaded guilty before Gilliam in September to one count of possessing child pornography.

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Abraham Simmons said Fischman acknowledged in his written plea agreement that he possessed more than 600 images when agents searched his residence on Jan. 8, 2015.

In addition to those images, prosecutors alleged in a sentencing brief that Fischman had “a massive collection of child pornography” that included more than 10,000 images and 150 videos found in searches of eight computers or hard drives he owned.

The collection included images of abuse of children as young as three to five years old, Simmons said.

The $5,000 restitution is for a known victim who requested restitution.

Prosecutors said in their brief that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was able to identify some of the victims depicted, although most of the victims in the images Fischman possessed remain unknown.

The known victims who had previously said they wished to be notified in such cases were contacted and one of them requested restitution, prosecutors said.

That person said in a victim impact statement to the court that she was raped, molested and beaten between the ages of 3 and 11 and still suffers from panic attacks, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, fear of being stalked and anger that her image remains in circulation.

The investigation of Fischman began after he engaged in online chats with and sent child pornography to undercover agents in Florida and New Zealand, prosecutors said in their brief. The agent in Florida was posing as a 14-year-old girl.

Defense attorneys said in a sentencing brief that Fischman is “profoundly remorseful” and has been undergoing intensive mental health treatment.