Oconee Man Sentenced to Over 5 Years in Federal Prison on Child Porn Charges

Greenville, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon announced today that Randy Quinn, age 31, of Westminster, was sentenced in federal court in Greenville for possession of child pornography. United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia sentenced Quinn to 68 months in federal prison, followed by lifetime court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system. 

Evidence presented to the court established that law enforcement conducted a proactive investigation involving a file-sharing network used by individuals with an interest in child pornography. An undercover officer downloaded child pornography that Quinn was sharing.

Based on the downloads, search warrants were obtained and executed at Quinn’s house. During the search, a Samsung tablet was discovered and a manual search of it by investigators revealed large quantities of videos and still images of child pornography. Additional images were discovered on Quinn’s cell phone. In total, over 10,000 images of child pornography were recovered from Quinn’s devices. 

The case was investigated by agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville office prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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