A 22-year-old Henrico man was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with five years suspended, following his guilty plea in Henrico County Circuit Court on two counts of possession of child pornography.

Christopher Lee was sentenced by Henrico Judge James S. Yoffy. Evidence presented at the plea hearing showed that Lee had offered to distribute child pornography videos to an undercover police officer through a peer-to-peer file sharing network. The Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force executed a search
warrant for the defendant's residence in Henrico on Sept. 17, 2010, and seized Lee's computer and cell phone.

During the search, the police discovered that Lee had received pornographic images from an underage girl he had previously met. Richmond Police Department forensic examiners also recovered 12 child pornography videos on his computer, and four child pornography videos on his cell phone.

In addition to five active years of incarceration, Lee will be placed on indefinite supervised probation upon release and will be required to be register on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. He also agreed to forfeit the equipment used to carry out the crime.

"This case demonstrates that even possession of child pornography is an egregious offense, one that we do not take lightly," said Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. "The possession of child pornography further exploits the victim and continues the vicious cycle of child pornography production. We will continue to work with law enforcement to bring these heinous offenders to justice."

This case was investigated by the Southern Virginia ICAC Task Forces, Det. Kevin Hiner of the Richmond Police Department, and Special Agent Tony Chrisley of the Virginia State Police. Assistant Attorney General Chip Muir prosecuted the case on behalf of the commonwealth.