HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Casey Young, a 40-year-old man from Kaneohe was sentenced, on Wednesday, to 15 years in prison and lifelong sex offender registry for child pornography charges.
Young pleaded guilty in on December 14, 2023.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Young was involved in over 75 different groups sharing images, videos and information on child pornography and child sex abuse with other anonymous individuals.
Each room or group catered to a particular type of child pornography. As a member of the group, Young along with other members generally had access to all the shared child pornography.
“This conduct is another confirmation of sexual predators utilizing social media to exploit children, as well as storing pornographic images on electronic media,” U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors said. “The law provides substantial prison terms for sexual exploitation of children, and such a penalty was appropriately imposed in this case.”
DOJ said, generally, an individual has to be assessed by a moderator and required to share at least two images or videos of child pornography with the room. A moderator had control over screening individuals, adding and removing members, usually for not sharing enough child pornography over a period of time.
Young was found to have moderated a dozen rooms across two applications. He also downloaded thousands of child pornographic images and videos onto multiple devices.
An undercover FBI agent observed Young in two different groups distributing child pornography in January and March 2023.
The FBI said this sentence is a reminder that they will not tolerate individuals who prey on children.