A man who discussed child sex abuse online was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison for distributing sexually explicit images of minors, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

Jacob Corey Penton, 30, was indicted in January. He pleaded guilty in March to receipt and distribution of child pornography and was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix.

“Through this sentencing, we have removed another threat from our community, sharing a message with our law enforcement partners that we are committed to aggressively pursuing anyone who seeks to exploit the innocence of our children," said Christopher Miller, acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas Field Office. "We will continue to devote our law enforcement resources to investigate and bring to justice those who victimize children through the heinous crimes and trauma associated with the production and distribution of child sexual abuse materials.”

According to plea papers, the investigation began when law enforcement received a tip stating that Mr. Penton had discussed his sexual attraction to children on an encrypted chat app. In messages, he stated that he had sexually assaulted a minor.

Agents analyzed Mr. Penton’s Kik account and found 15 pornographic images of children as young as four being sexually abused. In plea papers, he admitted he shared some of the videos with other Kik users shortly after he received them.

Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Callie Woolam and Stephen Rancourt prosecuted the case.

Original source can be found here.