KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- Jonathan Eugene Loper, 29, of Dayton, Tenn., was sentenced in Knoxville by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, Chief U.S. District Judge, to serve 324 months in prison for distributing child pornography.  Following his release from prison, Loper will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for a term of 25 years and will be required to register with the sex offender registry in any state in which he resides, works, or attends school.

Loper pleaded guilty in February 2015 to a federal grand jury indictment based upon his trading child pornography with an individual residing in Canada in 2012 and his posting of child pornography on Internet websites for downloading in 2013.  Loper’s sentence was enhanced due to a prior conviction in Rhea County, Tenn., for attempted aggravated sexual battery of a minor.

This investigation was conducted by the Knoxville Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Morris represents the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Press release by US Attorney’s Office