EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A former Scott Air Force Base airman has been sentenced to 78 months in prison for distributing child pornography and also given five years of supervised release.
Jace Faugno, 25, of Paducah, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography in 2019.
At his sentencing hearing, Faugno argued that his chats were merely a fantasy that he never intended to act upon. However, U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel observed that while only Faugno was aware of his true intentions, “fantasy can turn into reality.”
According to the press release, Faugno first came to the attention of law enforcement in September 2018 when the FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigations caught Faugno sending child pornography over messaging app Kik. At the time, Faugno was an active duty Senior Airman at Scott Air Force Base and lived in St. Louis.
During chat discussions with two undercover agents, Faugno sent both of them a video depicting a prepubescent girl being raped by an adult male. Faugno also solicited the agents to send him videos of child pornography and expressed an interest in meeting up with one agent to engage in sex acts with the undercover agent’s fictitious prepubescent daughter.
The conversations between Faugno and each of the agents ended after they refused to send him videos of child pornography.
Earlier this week on March 9, a Stanton Elementary School teacher was arrested on suspicion of promotion of child pornography.
In the news release, the district said the teacher was suspended and barred from school property as soon as they were made aware of the investigation by the St. Louis County Police Department. The district said investigators told them there was no indication that any students were victimized.
