Austin Matthew Otto, a 25-year-old resident of Orem, Utah, has been sentenced to eight years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. This sentencing comes after Otto was found guilty of producing sexually explicit photos of two children and uploading child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to his Google Photos account. The investigation also uncovered 400 images and 19 videos of CSAM on his electronic devices.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Howard C. Nielson, Jr., following Otto's guilty plea on June 4, 2024. In addition to the prison term, Otto is required to pay $3,000 in restitution to each victim.
Court documents revealed that in May 2021, Otto was identified through a report from Google to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after he uploaded CSAM online. The investigation traced IP addresses back to Otto, leading to his arrest. A search warrant resulted in the seizure of numerous images and videos of CSAM along with a pair of child-size six underwear. Digital forensic evaluations exposed filenames, keywords, web browser hits, bookmarks, playback history of videos, hidden names and folders containing CSAM including exploitive images of two victims under eight years old found on Otto’s cell phone and laptop.
The case was investigated by the Orem Police Department with prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Carol A. Dain from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. It involves collaboration between federal, state, and local resources to locate and prosecute offenders as well as identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit Justice.gov/PSC.
