A U.S. government employee who used his work computer to download child pornography for about 10 years was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
Robert M. Carey, 52, had more than 1 million images of child pornography on his home and office computers, in photo albums, or on DVDs and CD-ROMs when law enforcement authorities searched his home and office in August 2005, the DOJ said.
Carey, of Bowie, Maryland, was charged with producing and possessing child pornography. In addition to the jail sentence, Judge Roger W. Titus of U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ordered Carey to pay US$50,000 in restitution to a victimized family member, the DOJ said.
Carey, an employee of the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1974, took pictures of himself and a girl engaged in sexual acts when the victim was between the ages of eight and 13, the DOJ said. Some of those pictures were taken at the NOAA office, the DOJ said.
Carey pleaded guilty to the charges in May. He fled the U.S. after his Dec. 21, 2005 indictment.
He was featured on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” on Jan. 21, and he was arrested on Jan. 24 after turning himself in to U.S. officials in Rome, Italy.
Carey’s sentencing came one day after a Wichita, Kansas, man was sentenced to 19 years in prison after sharing child pornography videos in a Yahoo Inc. chat room.