Ga. Child Pornographer Sentenced To 27 Years

GAINESVILLE, GA — A Georgia man convicted of molesting two young girls then sharing images of it online has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison.

A jury found Michael Cannon, 34, of Gainesville, guilty of photographing, then posting online, pornographic images of a minor. Then, by request, he provided two viewers images via email of him molesting two minor victims who were living in his home.

"This defendant not only molested two young girls living in his household, he further victimized them by recording his sexual abuse and then posting the images on the Internet," said U.S. Attorney John Horn in a news release. "Thankfully the two girls have been rescued. We hope that this case will heighten awareness of child exploitation and deter others from committing such heinous crimes."

In December 2012, Cannon posted several images of a 10-year-old girl on a foreign-based website. Prosecutors say at least one of those images qualified as child pornography.

Several people then posted comments about the photos and asked about trading pictures. Cannon gave them his e-mail address and, when they wrote him, he sent them explicit photographs showing him in the act of molesting two young girls.

In return, evidence showed, he received images and videos of other children being sexually abused.

The girls, both of whom were living in the same house as Cannon, were rescued and removed from the home.

Cannon was convicted in the case on June 16, 2014, after he pleaded guilty.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

"The victims in this case were stripped of their innocence and dignity, viciously abused and egregiously exploited countless times as a result of being abused and recorded for the pleasure of monstrous predators," said Special Agent in Charge Nick Annan, of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta. "The defendant truly deserves every day he will sit in a federal prison cell … every day and more."

Assistant United States Attorney Paul R. Jones prosecuted the case.

Image via Shutterstock