A Jefferson City man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for possessing and distributing child pornography over the Internet.
Dominic J. Veit, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to eight years and nine months in federal prison without parole.
On April 6, 2015, Veit pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography and to possessing child pornography.
An FBI agent in New York, working on the national Innocent Images investigation in January 2011, identified Veit's computer as using a peer-to-peer file-sharing network to distribute child pornography. The agent downloaded 31 images of child pornography from Veit's computer.
On March 3, 2011, a federal search warrant was executed at Veit's residence. Veit was questioned by law enforcement officers and admitted that he used the file-sharing program to download child pornography over the Internet. Veit had 30-40 friends on his network, most of whom had images of child pornography they shared with him in exchange for gaining access to the child pornography files on Veit's computer.
Investigators discovered thousands of images and four videos of child pornography, including four images of bestiality that depicted bondage, on Veit's computer.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "Resources."