BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a Dekalb County Man to more than 12 years in prison for distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Alabama Department of Public Safety Director Hugh B. McCall.

U.S. District Judge Inge P. Johnson sentenced DUSTY BYRON PLUNKETT, 29, to 12 years and seven months in prison, to be followed by 10 years supervised release. He must register as a sex offender and, during his supervised release, he will be prohibited from any unsupervised conduct with children. The judge ordered him to report to prison April 11.

Plunkett pleaded guilty to the child pornography charges in October. Court records show that, between Feb. 8, 2010, and Feb. 12, 2010, Plunkett used a sophisticated computer file-sharing program to receive and distribute sadomasochistic images of prepubescent children being raped.

“Those who use technology to further the horrendous abuse and exploitation of children should know we are watching for them and we will prosecute them,” Vance said. “Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces, which are composed of numerous local law enforcement agencies, including the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, work tirelessly together to stop those that use the Internet to harm our children.”

Plunkett possessed 15 video images and 703 still images of child pornography, for a total of about 1,828 images. For sentencing calculations under federal sentencing guidelines, a video, video clip or movie involving child pornography is considered to contain 75 images.

The Alabama Bureau of Investigation, a division of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune prosecuted it.

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