Man gets 17 years in prison for child pornography

HARTFORD >> A 36-year-old Canton man was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, according to a news release from Deirdre M. Daly, acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.

Michael Crawford was sentenced Wednesday to 210 months in prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford.

According to court documents and statements made in court, police found that a person from Connecticut was posting photographs of children on a Russian file-sharing website. On July 5, 2012, officers executed a search and seizure warrant at Crawford’s Canton residence. Crawford admitted he posted images to the Russian website, that he had taken photographs of a 3-year- old victim and posted them on the site and had exchanged photographs of the minor victim to receive “better photos,” from others in trade.

Police searched Crawford’s email account and found seven sexually explicit photographs of the victim, taken by Crawford. He had emailed four of the images to other individuals.

“The U. S. Attorney’s Office aggressively prosecutes child exploitation crimes, and this lengthy prison sentence should send a loud and clear message that the penalties associated with these crimes are appropriately severe,” said Daly in a statement. “I commend Homeland Security Investigations, the Connecticut State Police and the Canton Police Department for investigating this matter and protecting children from future harm by this defendant.”

Police also found about 777 images and 24 videos of child pornography during the search of Crawford’s email account.

Crawford, an electrician, has been detained since he was arrested on Jan. 9, 2013. On May 1, he pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography.

State police from Troop H also investigated. Crawford has open state charges for first-degree illegal possession of child pornography, third- degree possession of child pornography and risk of injury to a child. He was due in Hartford court on July 25.

The case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorneys Sarala V. Nagala and Anastasia E. King. It is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. More information about the project can be found at justice.gov/ psc. To report cases of child exploitation, visit www.cybertipline.com.