Crime & Safety
Former West Chester U. Student Sentenced To Prison For Child Porn
Prosecutors said he sought out "shocking depictions" of abuse directly from the man who committed the acts.
WEST CHESTER, PA — A former West Chester University student has been sentenced to six years behind bars on child pornography charges.
Michael Meacham, 26, of West Chester, had pleaded guilty back in Dec. 2019 to a federal indictment on two counts.
An investigation began back in Feb. 2018, when the FBI said they discovered Meacham was chatting online about sexual abuse and child pornography with another convicted sex offender, Justyn Perez-Colon.
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Perez-Colon described his abuse and exploitation of two toddlers via a Kik messenger chat, federal authorities said. Meacham, then a student at West Chester, asked Perez-Colon for images of the abuse and Perez-Colon sent them to him, according to the FBI.
“Child pornography and exploitation offenses are among the most horrific crimes prosecuted by this Office,” Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in a statement. “By seeking out these shocking depictions, Meacham only added to the demand for these types of images to be produced and for more children to be victimized. Our Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to holding people like this defendant accountable for these crimes.”
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Perez-Colon was sentenced separately to 55 years in prison in Sept. 2021.
Meacham was also sentenced to five years of probation. The ruling was handed down by United States District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe.
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