Gavel and handcuffs on a leather surface
A registered sex offender and Borrego Springs resident who prosecutors say possessed and uploaded nearly 150 child sex-abuse images onto the internet was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Robert Clonts, 67, uploaded 147 such images in May of last year. An online service provider disclosed the upload to the nonprofit National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn notified the FBI.
Clonts was arrested about six months later and "verified his email address and phone number matched the information on the suspect account that uploaded the 147 images containing sexually explicit depictions of prepubescent minors," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
“This defendant’s actions are a grave violation of both the law and human decency,” said U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath. “Those who put children in jeopardy will face the full force of justice.”
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Clonts, who was convicted in 1990 of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal count of possession of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Clonts faced as much as 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine in the case but was, instead sentenced to the mandatory minimum prison term.
