Iron Station Man Sentenced to Over 16 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography

STATESVILLE, NC—An Iron Station man was sentenced on Monday, October 1, 2012, to serve 198 months in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release for producing, transporting and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making today’s announcement by Chris Briese, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division.

In April 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Christopher Steven Johnson, 38, of Iron Station, North Carolina, on two counts of production of child pornography, three counts of transportation of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. According to the criminal indictment, the defendant did employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. Based on filed documents and information brought out in court proceedings, an investigation revealed that Johnson used multiple accounts, including “luvyounger74” and “yeahright9774,” on a peer-to-peer network to distribute and receive child pornography online. Agents with the FBI executed a search warrant at Johnson’s residence in March 2011. According to filed court records and related court hearings, Johnson possessed over 4,200 images and 126 videos of child pornography. Court records also show that while examining the evidence seized from Mr. Johnson’s residence, agents discovered that Johnson had surreptitiously recorded a minor without her knowledge on multiple occasions. On August 31, 2011, the defendant entered a plea of guilty to all the charges.

Johnson has been in local federal custody in the Western District of North Carolina since his arrest in March 2011. Upon designation of a federal facility, Johnson will be transferred into custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

This case was investigated by the FBI. The prosecution for the government was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cortney Escaravage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.