AUGUSTA, GA: A Columbia County man has been sentenced to federal jail for creating and possessing pictures depicting the sexual exploitation of a kid.
Michael Benjamin Buckner, 39, of Grovetown, Ga., was sentenced to fifteen years in jail after beforehand pleading responsible to Tried Manufacturing of Youngster Pornography, mentioned Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Legal professional for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Courtroom Decide Dudley H. Bowen additionally fined Buckner $3,500, ordered him to register as a intercourse offender and to serve 15 years of supervised launch upon completion of his jail time period. There isn’t any parole within the federal system.
“Investigations and prosecutions of predators proceed to be a precedence in our efforts to guard probably the most weak amongst us,” mentioned U.S. Legal professional Steinberg. “We commend our legislation enforcement companions for his or her vigilance in following the proof to carry Michael Buckner accountable.”
As described in courtroom paperwork and testimony, investigators from the Grovetown Division of Public Security arrested Buckner and his spouse, Amber Buckner, 37, in October 2021 on a state cost of cruelty to youngsters after they had been alerted by officers from the Columbia County Board of Training Police. In a subsequent search of the contents of Michael Buckner’s mobile phone, investigators and FBI brokers found pictures depicting sexually express pictures of kids.
Along with his federal sentence, Michael Buckner additionally faces state prosecution for cruelty to youngsters. Amber Buckner is serving a 10-year jail sentence after pleading responsible in December 2022 to a state cost of cruelty to youngsters.
“Our neighborhood and its youngsters are a lot safer with this prolonged jail sentence handed all the way down to Buckner,” mentioned Keri Farley, Particular Agent in Cost of FBI Atlanta. “We attempt every single day to guard our youngsters and can proceed to make use of each legislation enforcement useful resource accessible to establish and prosecute people who exploit youngsters in such a fashion.”
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Grovetown Division of Public Security, and the Columbia County Board of Training Police Division, and prosecuted for america by Assistant U.S. Legal professional and Undertaking Secure Childhood Coordinator Tara M. Lyons, Deputy Chief of the Felony Division of the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Georgia.
Anybody with data on suspected baby sexual exploitation can contact the Nationwide Middle for Lacking and Exploited Kids at 800-843-5678, or https://report.cybertip.org/.
