A Fairbanks man was sentenced Friday to serve more than six years in prison for downloading and watching child pornography he found online.
United States District Judge Ralph Beistline sentenced Michael Gray Jr to 77 months in prison, followed by a 15-year term of supervised release. Gray signed a plea agreement on Feb. 19, pleading guilty to a single count of possession of child pornography.
The case against Gray began in late June of 2015, when an undercover FBI agent identified Gray’s computer as one that used an internet file-sharing network to offer media files showing girls between the ages of eight and 12 being molested by adult males. The videos were between three and 20 minutes long, and in some, showed “scenes of sadistic and masochistic conduct,” according to Gray’s plea agreement.
According to that agreement, a computer was seized from Gray’s home during a warranted search on Sept. 3, 2015. The computer, which will be forfeited to authorities, contained additional images and videos depicting sexual abuse of children.
Gray spoke with law enforcement following the search of his home, and admitted to using specific search terms associated with child pornography while using the file-sharing network.
“The defendant described a pattern of downloading files of child pornography through the internet, viewing those files, and then deleting those files from his computer,” the plea agreement explained.
Gray will be required to register as a sex offender following his prison sentence. He may also be required to pay restitution to the victims of his crime, including the children portrayed in the media he viewed, the plea agreement said.
