A Wallingford man is facing up to 20 years in prison after federal authorities said he traded thousands of pictures and videos of child pornography on the Internet.
Peter C. Johns, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court in Hartford on Monday to one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography.
According to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department, Johns’ child porn-trading scheme was exposed in November 2010 after an undercover FBI agent logged into a publicly available Internet file-sharing program and downloaded several images and videos from a directory that Johns maintained.
Johns was arrested on March 25, 2011, at his home where law enforcement agents seized his computer and related components. A forensic analysis revealed a collection of images of children under the age fo 12 engaging in sexually explicit conduct, some of which included sadistic or masochistic conduct, officials said.
Johns is scheduled for sentencing on April 4 before Judge Robert N. Chatigny. He faces a floor prison term of five years in jail and a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail, as well as a $250,000 fine.
Johns has been released on bond under electronic monitoring by the U.S. Probation Office since shortly after his arrest.
Multiple local and federal officials participated in the investigation, including the Connecticut Child Exploitaion Task Force, the Wallingford Police Department, and the FBI.
For more information about the Task Force, or to report child exploitation crimes, please contact the FBI at 203-777-6311.
