Man who pleaded guilty to child pornography production in Tacoma has been sentenced
A man who took video while sexually abusing a 5-year-old child he lived with in Tacoma in 2018 has been sentenced.
Samuel Phillips, 27, pleaded guilty last year to child pornography production.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle sentenced him to 15 years in federal prison Wednesday.
“This involves the abuse of those who are the most vulnerable – young children,” Settle said at the hearing, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release. “... A young child has been given a life sentence of this trauma.”
Phillips moved to Indiana in 2019 and was arrested there after his spouse found the videos of the abuse on his phone.
“Charges in state court for sexual abuse of the child are pending,” the press release said.
The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, which targets people who exploit children online.
“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 to identify and rescue victims,” the press release said.
Phillips will have to register as a sex offender when he is released and will be on probation for 25 years.
