Reno man sentenced to prison for creating, sharing child porn
A Reno man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for producing photos of child sexual abuse and distributing the images online.
Eric McCartt, 37, took photos of two minors he knew and traded the materials in an online group chat. McCartt had joined a group chat dedicated to trading the sex abuse materials in January 2015, according to court documents. Some of the photos were posted to the internet, and several images were found on the computer of a person in another country.
“Child pornography, when it’s released on the internet, lives on forever to haunt the innocent children whose abuse is depicted in the images,” Francisco Burrola, a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security investigations office in Las Vegas, said in statement. “While we cannot undo the damage of his horrible crimes, we hope that this sentence helps with the healing process for his victims and families.”
McCartt pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography in January 2019.
In addition to his prison sentence, McCartt also was ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release, pay $6,000 in restitution and forfeit computer equipment used in the violation. As a result of his conviction, he will be required to register as a sex offender, court documents show.
“McCartt preyed upon two innocent children, and the exploitation of children will not be tolerated,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid said in a statement. “The production of images of child sexual abuse is heinous and causes incalculable and long-lasting harm to victims.”
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.