ERIE, Pa. - A resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 60 months in prison, 10 years supervised release and ordered to pay $37,000 in restitution on his conviction of violating federal laws relating to the sexual exploitation of children, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Senior United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on David Lyons, 29.
According to information presented to the court, from January 2019 to March 2020, Lyons received digital images depicting prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
United States Attorney Chung commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Lyons.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys