A former Vancouver man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Friday to distributing child pornography.
Federal investigators found more than 3,100 pornographic images and 500 movie files on 36-year-old Joseph Schesso’s computers at his old house in Vancouver, according to the state U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case first came to the attention of authorities in 2010, when investigators in Germany found that someone from the U.S. was distributing child pornography through a file-sharing program.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement traced the computer’s IP address to Schesso’s residence.
In June 2010, agents served a search warrant at Schesso’s Vancouver home, seizing computers and a media card for a digital camera. The card contained sexually explicit photos of a child who had previously visited Schesso’s house, where the photos had apparently been taken, according to court documents.
Schesso’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11. According to a plea deal, he must be sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. He’s currently finishing a 40-month sentence in state prison for attempted child molestation. The sentences will run concurrently, and Schesso will have to register as a sex offender.
