Child porn yields 121-month prison term

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A 25-year-old New Middletown man has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in federal prison on child-pornography charges to which he had earlier pleaded guilty.

Christopher B. Yates drew the sentence Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi in Akron.

He’ll be on supervised release for 10 years after prison.

Yates was indicted Nov. 17 on charges of knowingly receiving and distributing in interstate commerce numerous computer files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in September and October 2013 and possessing an image of a prepubescent minor Nov. 15, 2013.

He was arrested Nov. 30 and released on a $20,000 unsecured bond Dec. 7, but Judge Lioi ordered him jailed pending sentencing when he pleaded guilty Feb. 10.

Yates intended to possess, but not distribute the images, never had any physical contact with an actual minor, and is willing to be rehabilitated, Yates’ lawyer, David J. Betras, of Canfield, said in a sentencing memorandum filed with the court.

Saying Yates is remorseful, has no prior criminal record and has suffered from mental illness, Betras called for the mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison.

Federal sentencing guidelines unfairly suggested a prison term of 17 years and six months to 21 years and 10 months for Yates, which is higher than the range for an adult who seeks out and contacts a 12-year-old for sex, Betras said.