PORTLAND, Maine — A Wisconsin man was sentenced Monday to 60 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to sending videos of children being sexually assaulted.
Ryan Jeremiah Abbott, 23, pleaded guilty in April to one of two charges of transporting child pornography depicting children as young as 1 year old being sexually assaulted, according to court documents.
According to terms of a plea agreement, a second charge was dismissed.
Abbott was arrested by U.S. marshals in Wisconsin on Dec. 23, 2014, for the Class B felonies, which allegedly were committed in October and December 2014, according to a criminal complaint filed by Special Agent David C. Fife of the Homeland Security Investigations office in Portland.
Abbott allegedly received and forwarded to others, including an undercover officer, 145 videos of children as young as 1 year old being sexually assaulted.
A search warrant of Abbott’s email account allegedly revealed more than 3,400 emails involving the solicitation and exchange of child pornography.
Abbott’s case was transferred to U.S. District Court in Maine because the emails were received in Maine and the investigation was conducted in this state. He initially pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will be sentenced to a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five years to life.
U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II requested a sentence of eight years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.
On Monday, Judge Jon D. Levy sentenced Abbott to 60 months in prison followed by seven years of supervised release. He was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal Service.