A Fairbanks, Ala. man has been sentenced to six years in prison and 20 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography involving minors as young as one year old, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reports.
Antonio Sanchez, 25, of Fairbanks pleaded guilty to possessing more than 60 images and videos of minors ranging in age from one to 15 years old being "forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct including intercourse and oral sex with adult males," the DOJ reported May 6. In addition to the pornographic content, Sanchez's computer also had a file-sharing program installed that allowed other computers access to the illegal files, the DOJ reports.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung, of the FBI's Anchorage field office, said having child pornography is a federal crime, the report states.
"Sanchez will now spend the next six years in federal prison for possessing such despicable material,” Jung said in the report.
S. Lane Tucker, U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska, said children who were exploited to make the "horrific videos and images" are being continuously re-harmed when the material is available online.
“Viewing child pornography is not a victimless crime – the children in these videos and photos are real children who were sexually abused on camera," Tucker said in the statement.
"Because the images are widely shared on the Internet, the children are re-victimized thousands of times as strangers watch and re-watch the sexual abuse," Tucker said. "Together, with our law enforcement partners, we are committed to seeking justice for these children.”
The FBI investigated the case with the Anchorage Police Department as part of the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, the DOJ reports.
“The FBI is committed (to) working side by side with our state and local partners," Jung said in the statement, "to investigate and combat these horrific crimes against children.”
