An Oklahoma man was sentenced Monday to 21 years and ten months in prison for advertising and distributing child sexual abuse material on the dark web.
According to court documents, Austen Peppers, 36, of Lawton, sold and offered to sell images of minors being sexually abused.
Peppers conducted the transactions on the dark web with cryptocurrency and used platforms and applications that he believed were secure and protected him from law enforcement scrutiny.
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Peppers also engaged in sexually explicit communications with persons believed to be minors and encouraged those apparent minors to create sexually explicit images of themselves. He amassed thousands of images and videos of children being sexually abused.
Peppers was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $11,200 and restitution totaling $57,000 to his victims.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert for the Eastern District of California, and Special Agent in Charge Tatum King of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Francisco made the announcement.
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