Antioch Man Sentenced To 20 Years On Child Porn Charges

NASHVILLE, TN — An Antioch man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison to be followed by 30 years of supervised release after he was found guilt on a slew of child pornography charges.

Christopher N. Bonick, 31, was convicted in March for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger announced his sentence Friday.

In July 2010, Bonick began communicating online with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, eventually engaging in a lengthy, sexually explicit chat. The person on the other end of the computer was, in fact, an undercover officer in Louisiana. In July 2011, Bonick engaged in a lengthy, sexually explicit chat with this person, who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer in Louisiana.

Bonick asked if "she" would be willing to engage in sexual activity with him and said he had met a 15-year-old girl online and had traveled to have sex with her in the past.

Bonick discussed traveling to see her and continued the sexually explicit conversation.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Bonick had engaged in numerous conversations with minors online and had asked them for sexually explicit photos. He had also traded child pornography via email.

A search warrant served in January 2012 discovered dozens of images of child pornography in Bonick's Antioch home.

Evidence at trial showed that Bonick had talked to at least 21 minors between July 2010 and July 2011 on websites aimed at teenagers. He would engage girls in chats, escalate those into sexually-charged conversations and then send and solicit explicit images.

The case was investigated by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carrie Daughtrey and Henry Leventis.

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