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AUSTIN (KXAN) — A federal court in Austin sentenced a man Tuesday to five years in prison on possession of child pornography charges, according to the United States Department of Justice.

The DOJ said 31-year-old Tucker Smith searched for, accessed, viewed, downloaded, possessed, stored, and distributed child sexual abuse material since approximately 2018. 

“Smith stated that he maintained between 15 and 20 gigabytes of CSAM depicting minors ranging from two to three years old to 15-16 years old,” the DOJ said.

According to a report, investigators seized and submitted approximately 904 images and 3,402 videos of suspected child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“This sentencing sends the message that we will continue to pursue and prosecute the predators who engage in the heinous and indefensible act of possessing child sexual abuse material,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas.  “Thank you to our partners at the FBI for their investigation and helping us seek justice for the dozens upon dozens of child victims exploited in this case.”

According to the DOJ, this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.