Child porn ring suspect cries, gets prison time in Pa.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — An Arizona trucker cried and apologized as he became the last of eight men sentenced to prison by a federal judge here for participating in a social-networking site whose members shared child pornography.

Forty-three-year-old Dave Dean, of Peoria, Ariz. was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison followed by probation for life.

Dean told the judge today he was sorry, calling his conduct outrageous and saying, “It’s clear I have a serious problem.”

Dean was charged by a federal grand jury with participating in a group led by 57-year-old Stephen Sims, of San Leandro, Calif., who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in January.

Sims had bragged of being the “den mother” of a group with members in the United States and several foreign countries, including the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and Dubai.