Hobart Man Sentenced For Producing Child Pornography
Antonio M. Blunt, 41, of Hobart, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon following his guilty plea to a production of child pornography charge,announced Acting U.S. Attorney Bell.
Blunt was sentenced to 180 months (15 years) in prison followed by a 12-year term of supervised release. He was ordered not to have future contact – direct or indirect – with the 4 year-old victim of his crime, and to pay restitution totaling $46,682 to cover estimated future therapy expenses. Following his release from prison, Mr. Blunt will be required to register as a sex offender in any state where he lives, works or attends school.
Pursuant to his plea agreement with the government, Mr. Blunt admitted that, while the child was in his care, he produced sexually explicit photographs of her. He knew the child was especially vulnerable, because she suffered from various physical ailments. Mr. Blunt uploaded the pictures to a cloud storage service and accessed them repeatedly.
“Those who sexually exploit children by producing child pornography cause great harm to their young victims and their deplorable actions will not be tolerated,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan. “This sentence should serve as a warning that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will always make it a priority to identify and hold accountable those who choose to take advantage of vulnerable children.”
This case is the result of the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hobart, Indiana Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jill Koster and Molly Kelley.
