Bartow man gets 22 years for producing child porn

A Bartow County man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of enticing a child to produce images of child pornography.

Christopher Alan Love, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Harold L. Murphy in Rome on Feb. 9.

“I’ll never be able to right a wrong. It just happened and I take full responsibility for it,” Love told Murphy prior to the judge imposing the sentence.

Love and a co- defendant were arrested after Love talked about taking video of acts with a 9-yearold child. The friend went to authorities and told them about Love’s claim.

Paul Jones, an assistant U.S. attorney, had asked for a 25-year sentence.

“I think he is a danger to the public,” Jones said. “We do believe he is a predator.”

Love’s attorney David West, of Marietta, argued for a 20-year sentence, claiming that Love’s co-defendant, Erin Molly Rafferty, received an 18-year sentence for the same offense.

“I have a real issue with gender discrimination,” West said after the hearing was over.

He said he hears a lot related to disparities in the sentencing of minorities but added, “I don’t see anybody hopping up and down about the differences in gender.”

West argued that Love and Rafferty did not produce videos of the child in December 2015 for any kind of widespread distribution — the images were made for their own “self-gratification.”

Jones countered by saying that when officers r ai ded t heir Milam Bridge Road home in Euharlee on Dec. 22, 2015, 78 videos and more than 4,000 images related to child pornography were found on computers and other electronic devices in the home.

Bartow County District Att o r ney Rosemary Greene said both Love and Rafferty still face charges including 15 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, three counts of child molestation, one count of meth possession and one count of reckless conduct.