Man sentenced to 70 years for raping 1-year-old, posting videos on dark web
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — A 31-year-old Florida man has been sentenced to 70 years in federal prison for recording himself raping a 1-year-old child and distributing the videos on the dark web.
Chief U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday sentenced James Lockhart on July 11 to the maximum penalty allowed.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release that Lockhart produced a “sexually violent four-video series” in which he filmed himself having sex with the child. In the videos, Lockhart displayed signs with the name of the dark web forum and his online moniker to “gain notoriety in the forum and elsewhere.”
Prosecutors say Lockhart also bragged of abusing another young child.
Officials seized devices containing 43 videos and at least 4,000 images of child pornography from Lockhart’s Bradenton residence.