Canton man sentenced to more than eight years in prison for child pornography crimes

A Canton man was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for child pornography crimes.

Marshall Belden, Jr., 70, previously pleaded guilty to receiving, distributing and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Belden was sentenced to 103 months in federal prison.

Belden on Oct. 24, 2016 knowingly received and distributed numerous computer files which contained visual depictions of real minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and which files had been shipped and transported in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce. On Jan. 26, 2017, Belden possessed a computer and an external hard drive, each of which contained child pornography, according to court documents.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Sullivan following an investigation by the Canton office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Canton Police Department.