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Former soldier sentenced to 20 years for child pornography
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SAVANNAH -- Spc. Ryan Verch was sentenced to 262 months imprisonment for his conviction for production of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a minor last week, according to Edmund A. Booth, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia,
U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. handed down the sentence in U.S. District Court here.
Formerly stationed at Fort Stewart, Verch had earlier pled guilty, admitting he took sexually explicit pictures of a minor relative under the age of 2 and distributed those pictures on the Internet.  
The case was the result of a joint investigation by FBI Special Agent Joshua Hayes, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Stewart.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Wade.
Booth said the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, which is a nationwide U.S. Department of Justice initiative to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.
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