Washington County Sex Offender Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison for Trafficking in Child Pornography

PITTSBURGH—A resident of Eighty Four, Pa., has been sentenced in federal court to 210 months (17.5 years) in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release on his conviction for crimes related to trafficking in child pornography, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on David Luke Cunningham, 37.

According to information presented to the court, the Pennsylvania State Police detected Cunningham sharing videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children in May and June 2007, during an undercover online investigation of peer-to-peer networks. More than 50 videos, including sado-masochistic images and violent sexual assault of children appearing as young as 2 years of age, were later recovered from Cunningham’s computer following the execution of a search warrant. Evidence presented at the jury trial and at sentencing revealed that at the time of the investigation in 2007 Cunningham was on probation for a sexual offense involving a 4-year-old child in Washington County.

Assistant United States Attorney Soo C. Song prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Pennsylvania State Police, together with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Cunningham.