A Bridgeville, Pennsylvania resident has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material. The sentence will be followed by 10 years of supervised release. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti.
Matthew A. Trax, age 25, received the sentence from United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy. According to information presented in court, Trax enticed a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of creating visual depictions of the acts. He also sent the minor images and a video of himself engaged in sexual intercourse with her, which he had recorded on his phone.
Before delivering the sentence, Judge Hardy described Trax’s offense as extremely serious and emphasized its impact on vulnerable members of the community. Judge Hardy said, “such conduct victimizes the most vulnerable members of our community—children.” He added that the sentence aims not only to punish Trax and protect the community but also to deter others from similar crimes: “the imposed federal sentence serves to not only punish the defendant for his conduct and to protect the community, but to also deter Trax and other individuals who may seek to exploit children from engaging in such conduct.”
Assistant United States Attorney Nicole A. Stockey prosecuted the case for the government.
Acting U.S. Attorney Rivetti recognized the efforts of several law enforcement agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting this case, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mt. Lebanon Police Department, South Fayette Police Department, and Allegheny County Police Department.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at fighting child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating resources among federal, state, and local authorities to prosecute offenders and rescue victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
