A Wilmington man was sentenced Tuesday to 84 months in federal prison for possessing child pornography and distributing the sexually explicit images of children to other Internet users.
Daniel Patrick Diaz, 35, pleaded guilty in July to four counts of receipt and distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Diaz admitted in his plea agreement that he used the internet to download and transfer numerous images and videos of child pornography to various digital devices and email accounts.
In April 2017, Diaz used the internet messenger application Kik to knowingly distribute files that depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and he sent the illicit images to an undercover law enforcement officer, prosecutors said.
A federal search warrant executed in May 2017 revealed that Diaz used
an email address to receive and distribute child pornography, including
sadistic and masochistic content, according to court documents.
In total, Diaz possessed at least 600 images of child pornography,
prosecutors said.
"The prolific nature of (Diaz's) fascination with child pornography,
including the types of content he possessed, shared and distributed, is
troubling,'' the prosecution wrote in its sentencing memorandum, which notes that "his trading, sharing, possession and distribution of these images and videos only served to continue the harm suffered by the victims.''
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The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and is
part of Project Safe Childhood, the Justice Department's ongoing initiative to combat child exploitation crimes.
