Jonathan Eugene Loper, 29, was sentenced to 27 years in prison in a federal child porn case.
This mugshot is from the Rhea County Sheriff's Department from a 2013 arrest for driving on a revoked or suspended license.A Dayton, Tenn., man was sentenced on a February guilty plea to 324 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography.
Jonathan Eugene Loper, 29, was convicted on a federal grand jury indictment to which he pleaded guilty to trading child porn with an individual residing in Canada in 2012 and his posting of child porn on internet websites for downloading in 2013, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Bill Killian's office.
Loper's 27-year sentence was enhanced because of a prior conviction in Rhea County for attempted aggravated sexual battery of a minor, officials said.
The federal sentence was handed down from Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan. Following his release from prison, Loper will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for a 25-year term and he will be requred to register with the sex offender registry in any state in which he resides, works or attends school.
The investigation was performed by the Knoxville Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the U.S. Homeland Security Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Morris represents the federal government.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.