CHRISTIANSTED — A St. Croix resident was given seven years in prison for collecting child pornography on his computer.
John Paul Cunningham, 31, was sentenced by Senior District Judge Wilma A. Lewis for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Adam F. Sleeper said.
Judge Lewis sentenced Cunningham to 84 months’ imprisonment, 15 years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
Restitution will be determined later.
According to documents filed with the court, on or about May 5, 2020, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children cyber tip line received information from Google, Inc. regarding a Gmail account user on St. Croix viewing or uploading what appeared to be child sexual exploitation materials.
Google provided subscriber information, including the owner’s name and contact numbers for the account.
The information revealed that the email address belonged to Cunningham. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) learned that Cunningham would be traveling from St. Croix to the mainland.
On June 9, 2020, HSI agents went to Henry Rohlsen Airport and made contact with and interviewed Cunningham.
After receiving Cunningham’s consent, agents searched his cell phone Google cloud account and found thousands of images of child sexual abuse material that showed minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The images were produced using materials which had been mailed, shipped, or transported in interstate or
foreign commerce, and Cunningham knew the visual depictions involved the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted
by Assistant United States Attorney Rhonda Williams-Henr
