Father given 30 years in prison for taking explicit photos of his one-year-old daughter and sharing them online
A 47-year-old man from North Carolina was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he admitted taking sexually-explicit images of his 20-month-old daughter and sharing them online with others.
The man, identified as Robin Christopher Hildred, reportedly had over 2,200 images and a dozen videos of child pornography at his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, an undercover investigation found out. The father was slapped with almost two dozen charges, including first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree exploitation of a minor and sexual offense with a child.
US District Judge James C. Dever, III, sentenced Hildred to prison on Friday and the disgraced father now faces a lifetime of supervised release once he is released from prison.
US Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, in a statement, said: "The sentence ensures he cannot victimize any more children for the next 30 years."
"Robin Christopher Hildred is a predator who victimized countless children through his distribution and possession of child pornography. But, perhaps even worse, he preyed upon his own vulnerable daughter. The man who should have been caring for and protecting her, exploit her in the most disgusting and tragic way," he added.
Authorities began suspecting Hildred in 2018 after he "expressed sexual interest in infants and toddlers" in an online chat room set up for discussing child pornography. Investigators established his IP address which led them to his home, where he admitted to downloading and storing child porn and taking sexually explicit photographs of his toddler, the Daily Mail reported.
Officers conducted a forensic examination of devices seized from his home and found 2,299 image files and 12 video files of child pornography that were created in his home on multiple dates from December 2017 to April 2018. The forensic tests also confirmed that he had taken sexually-explicit images of his child on his phone.
Investigators said that Hildred shared images of child porn, and pictures of his daughters, on "multiple instances" with others.