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Man gets 10 years in prison for child porn
YOUNGSTOWN
A Green Township man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday on five counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor.
Darryl Hipps, 54, of Pleasant Valley Drive, drew the sentence from Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Hipps had pleaded guilty to the changes in May, and the judge delivered the prison term at the length advocated by Jennifer McLaughlin, an assistant county prosecutor.
“These are real kids that are in these videos. ... These are kids being raped on video,” McLaughlin told the judge.
Hipps’ lawyer, Ronald Knickerbocker, cited his client’s lack of any prior criminal record and his 23 years of Navy service, followed by 10 years as a Merchant Marine officer, and asked the judge to consider a four-year prison term.
Each count carried a potential maximum sentence of eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
“I reached a troubled point in my life of allowing my moral compass to deviate from its otherwise intended course,” an apologetic Hipps told the judge during the one-hour sentencing hearing.
“I have never, nor would I ever, engage in any type of inappropriate physical contact or abuse with anyone, whether underage or otherwise,” he added.
“If there wasn’t a market for this garbage, there wouldn’t be children at risk” of being abused to produce it, Judge Durkin said.
Calling the videos “sick and vile,” Judge Durkin added: “There are absolutely victims here.”
Hipps will be on probation for five years after prison and required to register as a sex offender every 180 days for 25 years.
Hipps was arrested in March 2015 after federal, state and local authorities searched his home after a three-month investigation.
Agents confiscated electronic devices after receiving information that child pornography was being trafficked from the residence.
Knickerbocker said the sentence will be appealed.