ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A St. Louis County man was sentenced to a decade behind bars Tuesday after being found in possession of images and videos containing child porn.
According to a press release from U.S. State's Attorney Sayler Fleming, a U.S. district judge sentenced Christopher Cotton, 33, to 10 years in federal prison after investigators found more than 60,000 pieces of multimedia containing child images and video of child sex abuse material in his possession. Cotton must also pay $66,000 in restitution to the victims who appeared in his personal stash.
Back in April, Cotton pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child sex abuse material and admitted uploading the files to DropBox for viewing later. The plea was then reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which prompted an investigation.
On July 13, 2022, law enforcement officers searched Cotton’s home in St. Louis County near Florissant, where Cotton told officers he watched and collected the material. He told officers he received images from about 15 or more teenagers who he contacted on social media. The youngest victim was reportedly 13 years old.
Shortly after his admission, investigators found more than 16,000 images and 46,000 videos saved online and on Cotton’s laptop and three different cell phones.
Cotton was also ordered to pay thousands in restitution to his victims.
In letters to the court, victims expressed the pain that people like Cotton cause and the fear that they have of being recognized in the images.
One victim, who uses the pseudonym Andy wrote,
“My sexual abuse occurred from the ages of 6-12. During this time my victimization was documented and shared across the country and is continuously being shared. I feel that every single criminal that is found with mine or another child’s images should be held accountable for the highest amount possible to help us victims repair our lives.
The parents of another victim wrote,
“Aside from the horrible truth that my daughter was horrifically abused from the ages of four to seven and her innocence was literally stolen, one of the ongoing concerns that plagues my child is that literally any person she meets on the street [or any teenage boy in her class] might have seen photos of her being cruelly debased and abused.”
Resources for child sex abuse victims:
- Call the 24-hour Child Abuse Hotline at 800-25-ABUSE (800-252-2873) if you suspect that a child has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed by abuse or neglect. If you believe a child is in immediate danger of harm, call 911 first.
- If you suspect child abuse, call the Missouri Hotline number at 1-800-392-3738. The team is available to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you are hearing or speech impaired, call Relay Missouri at 1-800-735-2466 (voice) or 1-800-735-2966 (text). If you are mandated by law to report child abuse and neglect, you can make a report online here.
- To report a crime to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, visit their CyberTipline online.
