Brent Lawson, 46, of Barnhart has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal charge for possession of child pornography. He also was ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution, according to court documents.
Lawson, a prior offender, was convicted more than 17 years ago for other child porn charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Lawson pleaded guilty to the latest child porn charges Dec. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. On March 25, U.S District Judge Matthew T. Schelp handed down the 10-year sentence, according to court records.
From May 2019 through November 2020, Lawson accessed a website that had sexually explicit images and videos of children, some of them younger than 12. The website, which is run outside the U.S., collects and shares images of children being sexually and physically abused, according to the plea agreement.
Lawson installed Tor software to gain access to the website. When law enforcement officers searched Lawson’s home on Nov. 24, 2020, they found 54 videos of child pornography that he had downloaded from the internet, the agreement said.
The FBI investigated the case. U.S. assistant prosecuting attorney Joseph W. Flees handled the case.
In April 2004, Lawson was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to transportation of child pornography, attempted receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, and after serving his sentence, he was placed on three years’ probation, according to the agreement.