PORTLAND, Ore.—A former police officer from Pendleton, Oregon was sentenced to federal prison today for possessing child pornography on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Cameron Jacob Sheoships, 57, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. Sheoships’ sentencing follows a prior guilty plea that included a pattern enhancement for his repeated sexual abuse of a minor beginning in the 1990s.
According to court documents, in August 2022, the FBI received a tip that suspected child pornography had been traced to the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Eastern Oregon. By mid-September 2022, investigators received additional tips associated with Google and Twitter accounts later linked to Sheoships, a former tribal police officer. In May 2023, the FBI executed federal search warrants on Sheoships’ residence and person, and located numerous photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse on Sheoships’ cellphone.
On June 13, 2023, a federal grand jury in Portland returned an indictment charging Sheoships with possessing child pornography and, on April 24, 2024, he pleaded guilty to the single charge.
This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Cassady A. Adams, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at (503) 224-4181 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Justice Department to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
