A Canyon Lake man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday for sharing more than 115,000 files of child sexual abuse material over the internet.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas in a press release Tuesday said Seth Perricone, 48, also received lifetime supervised release for the distribution and receipt of child pornography.
“Child pornography violations are horrific crimes that plague victims long after their original abuse,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas. “With this lengthy sentence by the court, the victims, in this case, were given the justice they deserve.”
In July, a federal grand jury found Perricone guilty of six counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography.
An FBI investigation revealed Perricone had been downloading and distributing child exploitation material since 2012. Some of the images depicted children as young as toddlers being sexually assaulted by adults.
“Working with our law enforcement partners, the FBI will continue to do everything in our power to protect children from dangerous predators,” FBI Special Agent Charles Oliver Rich in the bureau’s San Antonio said.
According to a complaint obtained by ValleyCentral.com, FBI agents located a device sharing child pornography and downloaded files from the same IP address.
After obtaining a search warrant they seized devices including a computer with BitTorrent, a file-sharing software.
ValleyCentral.com reported the complaint stated Perricone told agents there was no excuse or justification for his actions.
He was arrested Jan. 26, 2018.
Perricone’s case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
