ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. sentenced a Tampa, Florida man to 192 months in prison on production of child pornography charges, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Judge Cogburn also ordered Richard Spencer Flynn, 41, to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2016 to one count of production of child pornography.
John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina, and Sheriff Van Duncan of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office join U.S. Attorney Rose in making today’s announcement.
“Flynn was a predator lurking on the Internet who targeted a child for his deviant sexual purposes. His conduct was reprehensible and for that, he will deservedly serve time in federal prison," said U.S. Attorney Rose.
According to filed court documents and yesterday’s sentencing hearing, beginning in or about March 2015 and continuing through March 2016, Flynn traveled to North Carolina to meet with a 15-year-old female he met via the Internet and other electronic means to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Court documents also show that Flynn produced numerous images of child pornography of his victim.
In announcing today’s sentence Judge Cogburn said, “This is a serious crime with a serious punishment."
Flynn has been in custody since Sept. 29, 2016. He will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentencings are served without the possibility of parole.
The FBI and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
