ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A Moline, Illinois man, Christopher A. Budd, 36, was sentenced today in federal court at Rock Island to serve 210 months (17.5 years) in prison for receiving, possessing and distributing child pornography. Budd was also ordered to remain on supervised release for a term of life after he is released from prison. Budd has remained detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on March 12, 2007.

Budd, who had no criminal history prior to these charges, pled guilty to the offenses on October 5, 2007. In the plea agreement filed in the case, Budd admitted that he knowingly downloaded images and videos of child pornography and distributed videos of child pornography to others over the internet. In the plea agreement, Budd also agreed that certain of the videos he received and distributed over the internet were of a sadistic and masochistic nature. In the plea agreement, Budd specifically admitted that one video depicted an infant being raped, another depicted a three-year-old girl being raped, and a third depicted a minor boy being subjected to bondage and forced to perform sexual acts.

At the sentencing hearing today, the government presented evidence showing that the defendant possessed approximately 78 videos of child pornography in addition to still images, and that the defendant distributed these videos and images to others over the internet more than 1,000 times. During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Joe B. McDade called the child pornography received and distributed by the defendant, “some of the worst I have seen as a federal judge.”

In reflecting upon Budd’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Rodger A. Heaton stated, “Anyone involved in acquiring or distributing images depicting these kinds of horrific crimes against children should expect to be arrested and sentenced to a long term in prison. The victimization of children will simply not be tolerated.”

The charges against Budd were investigated by the Moline Police Department, the Central Illinois Cybercrime Unit at Peoria, Illinois, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Division.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Cannon of the Rock Island Branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.

In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov