SACRAMENTO, CA—Troy Lee Vickers, 49, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to five years in prison for receiving child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, Vickers knowingly used peer-to-peer computer software to download at least 200 child pornography videos from the Internet. Most of the videos recorded the sexual abuse of prepubescent children, some of whom appeared as young as six years old. Some of the videos involved sadistic and masochistic conduct.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew G. Morris and Amanda Beck prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.