A 21-year-old Montgomery County man is on his way to prison for at least 13 years for his guilty plea to receiving child pornography.
Zachery Van Meter, of Brookville, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Dayton.
He admitted to authorities last November that he created a Kik messenger app and from July 2016 through roughly February 2017 used it to receive images of child pornography and to communicate with others about the sexual exploitation of children, according to the office of Benjamin Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
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During the course of these conversations, Van Meter took at least 15 photographs of clothed juveniles known to him and sent the photos to others in an effort to receive more child pornography files.
Van Meter received at least 30 sexually explicit photos of children -- including at least one that portrayed sadistic and/or masochistic conduct involving the binding of a child's arms and legs by black material to a hook on the floor.
Based on his conduct, Van Meter received a sentencing enhancement for engaging in a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of minors, Glassman said.
Van Meter pleaded guilty before District Judge Thomas M. Rose in November 2017.
Glassman, FBI Special Agent in Charge-Cincinnati Division Angela L. Byers, Preble County Sheriff Michael L. Simpson and Perry Twp. Police Chief Bob Bowman announced the sentence in a formal statement Tuesday afternoon.
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