A baby sex porn “deviant” from Moreno Valley who advertised child pornography in a members-only chat room for perverts desiring infants and toddlers was sentenced Monday in Los Angeles to nearly 20 years behind bars.
At one point, according to court papers, the defendant wrote: “I have tons of pics and vids of little boys and girls. Pm me for chat and trade of kids under 6.”
The message was accompanied by an emoji symbol of a winking face.
“Pedophiles continue to develop ways to exploit online technology so they can have a forum to share their deviant interests,” U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said.
“Law enforcement will continue to respond to the increased use of online platforms by vigorously investigating the dark corners of the Internet where criminals attempt to hide offenses like the trafficking and promotion of child pornography,” she said. “Defendants like (Angelo) Harper (Jr.) endanger children by perpetuating a market for their victimization.”
Along with the 235-month prison sentence, Angelo Harper Jr., 21, was sentenced to lifetime supervised released by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner.
Harper was found guilty in July by Klausner, who presided over a two-day bench trial on the advertising child pornography charge. Just prior to trial, Harper pleaded guilty to distributing child porn and possession of child porn, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Harper used the Kik Messenger social media platform to access a chat room for those interested in nepiophilia, which is a sexual interest in infants and toddlers.
Last year, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations entered the chat room using an undercover Kik account, finding several postings about child porn — made by an individual later identified as Harper — which included images depicting child porn and a link to an explicit video.
As a result of the investigation, federal agents obtained a search warrant for Harper’s home. During the execution of the warrant a year ago, agents seized various digital devices that contained child porn and Harper admitted to using Kik to transmit child porn.
“Child pornography, when it’s released on the Internet, lives on forever,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge for HSI Los Angeles. “It haunts the innocent children whose abuse is depicted in the images, and brings unspeakable pain to their parents and families, knowing that untold strangers are exploiting their worst experiences for their own perverse pleasure.”
–City News Service