Louisiana man sentenced to 60 years for raping young girls, sharing footage online

Louisiana man sentenced to 60 years for raping young girls, sharing footage online

2011-01-28 12:38:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) -- A 35-year-old Louisiana man was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Thursday for sexually abusing two young girls and sharing the footage of it with others, prosecutors said.

Shelton Peter Fruge, of Lake Charles, La., pleaded guilty in October 2010 to two counts of production of child pornography. He admitted to sexually assaulting very young girls and photographed the molestation.

Fruge started by photographing the children in sexually explicit poses and, as the abuse progressed, the defendant began photographing a 6-year-old girl as he raped her. "After producing the hardcore prepubescent child pornography, Fruge would then trade the images with other people and discuss ways to further sexually assault the young children," prosecutors said.

After discovering the images Fruge had produced of the children on the internet, agents with Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at Fruge's residence. During the search, they discovered child pornography that he had downloaded from the internet and images of the two young girls. Fruge confessed to producing the child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi said during the sentencing that this particular case was 'among the worst' cases she had ever been involved with in her entire career. "Anyone who thinks they can commit such vile acts against the most vulnerable should think twice before doing it in this district," U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley said. "Our office, along with our federal, state and local partners, will vigorously investigate and prosecute those who prey on the children of our community."

Minaldi sentenced Fruge to 60 years in prison and lifetime supervised release.

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