| Advertisement |
|
|
A Roanoke man was sentenced Tuesday afternoon for distributing child pornography.
41-year-old Patrick Ragan waived his right to be indicted in March 2012. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court Tuesday to 180 months in prison, and 60 months of supervised release.
"Ragan exploited these innocent victims over and over again each time these photos were distributed," Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wrote in a news release. "Catching and prosecuting despicable criminals like Ragan is part of my office's ongoing fight to protect Virginia's most vulnerable citizens."
The case began when an FBI undercover agent observed the Ragan on a popular peer-to-peer file sharing network making images available that appeared to be child porn.
The agent found 11 files on Ragan’s computer that depicted minors engaging in sexual conduct. The agent had at least eight more undercover sessions with Ragan where child porn was obtained.
After getting a search warrant, the FBI found at least 600 child porn images in Ragan’s home.