Indy man sentenced after using Twitter to sell child sexual abuse material

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis man was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison after he advertised and sold child sexual abuse material on social media.




According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana, 23-year-old Melvin Anderson pleaded guilty to advertising child sexual abuse material and distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.




According to the release, Anderson will spend 17.5 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.




Between December 2022 and March 2023, Anderson used Twitter, the social media platform now known as X, to advertise and sell child sexual abuse material.

"This predator not only revictimized children by exploiting the worst days of their lives over and over again to further demand, but did so just to make a quick buck," John E. Childress, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said in the release. "If not for the work of the Secret Service and our AUSAs, this dangerous man would still be profiting from such horrific abuse and incentivizing others to exploit and harm children."




The release said that Anderson ran multiple accounts that advertised links to cloud-based storage folders that contained more than 600 videos and images of minors being sexually abused. Anderson provided his CashApp and Apple Pay account names so customers could send him $10-25 to access a link.




Officials said Anderson advertised the accounts "as if he was running a legitimate retail business," organizing the files based on various characteristics. The release said that material with younger victims garnered a higher price.








"Child sexual predators will be held accountable for their vile actions and the sentencing in this case demonstrates that. The U.S. Secret Service is committed to devoting its expertise and resources to protecting children from online predators and to pursuing those who try to profit from sexual abuse," Ike Barnes, the special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's Indianapolis Field Office, said in the release. "I am proud of the work our Secret Service personnel did in bringing this defendant to justice. I am thankful to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Indiana and all those who worked on prosecuting this case for their diligent efforts."





via: https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/indy-man-sentenced-after-using-twitter-to-sell-child-sexual-abuse-material/