A 20-year-old Clinton man was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday after he was convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography, federal officials said.
Dakota Destry Weaver, 20, of Clinton, was sentenced to serve 144 months, or 12 years, by Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan, a press release said.
A forensic examination of Weaver’s computer revealed that he had collected 1,106 still images and 78 videos of child pornography, according to the press release from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney William C. Killian of the Eastern District of Tennessee.
Weaver pleaded guilty in June 2015 to federal charges stemming from an undercover investigation into trading child pornography on the Internet, the press release said.
After he is released from prison, Weaver will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for a term of 20 years and will be required to register with the sex offender registry in any state in which he resides, works, or attends school, the press release said.
Thie investigation was conducted by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Morris represented the United States.
The press release said this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
“Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims,” the press release said. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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