Newtown Man Receives More Than 23 Years for Child Pornography

A Newtown man who sexually abused a four-year old girl and documented the abuse with an iPhone will spend more than 23 years behind bars for the crime, according to an announcement today from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant sentenced Wilson to 280 months in prison, to be followed by ten years of supervised release, for producing, trading and possessing child pornography.

According to court documents, Edward F. Wilson, 29, kept photos and images of the abuse on his computer, and traded "hundreds" of images with others via e-mail between 2011 and 2012. In February, Lt. Paul Vance with the Connecticut State Police said authorities received tips that a suspect "appeared to be emailing files of suspected child pornography" and tracked the e-mails to Wilson's address, where he was arrested in April 2012.

In July, Wilson was charged with an additional 22 state charges, including six counts of first-degree sexual assault, five counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and 11 counts of risk of injury.

In August, a federal grand jury indicted Wilson on one count of production of child pornography, one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography.He pled guilty to one charge of child pornography in February.

"The U.S. Attorney’s Office is steadfastly committed to working with our state counterparts to use the full weight of federal child exploitation laws to prosecute those who commit these heinous crimes," said U.S. Attorney David B. Fein. "Together we can protect society from dangerous offenders, often in ways that protect young victims from having to testify and being further victimized."

He thanked the Newtown Police Department, the Connecticut State Police and other authorities for their work on the case.