Porn-case jail term 25 years

Canada caught Joseph Keck importing child pornography in 2007, but he was undeterred.

The former truck driver kept fetching and distributing illegal images for years until he was caught by undercover agents in 2016, a federal prosecutor said during a sentencing hearing Wednesday before U.S. District Judge James Moody in Little Rock.

Keck, 62, of Bryant was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of attempting to distribute child pornography images through a peer-to-peer internet program, possession of child pornography and advertising those images to other users. He was convicted by a federal jury in April.

Keck was sentenced

Wednesday after his grown son and daughter gave emotional statements to the judge urging leniency.

C.J. Keck said his father taught him to hunt, fish, garden and properly use tools. He also taught him about “love, compassion and commitment.”

The defendant’s daughter, Danika Fee, said her father has been “depicted as this monster” since his arrest three years ago.

“That’s not the man I know,” she said, referring to him as a great father and grandfather.

Joseph Keck told the judge he had “failed” his children.

“I regret that deeply,” he said.

Prosecutor Kristin Bryant said Joseph Keck’s desire for child pornography was “incessant” and Keck made no effort to seek help or change his ways even after being detained in Canada. Bryant said Canadian authorities jailed him, but she didn’t know the length of Keck’s sentence.

The images Keck obtained a few years ago of underage boys were shared with undercover agents in Oklahoma and New Jersey, Bryant said. The source of those images was traced to Keck’s home.

When he drove up to his home in his white van in May 2016, the FBI was waiting for him. Agents seized his two laptop computers, an external hard drive and a cellphone.

Tens of thousands of illicit photographs were discovered on Keck’s devices, Bryant said.

Keck used a file-sharing program called Gigatribe to exchange images and videos with other users, according to court documents.