TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A Tallahassee man will spend 20 years behind bars in federal prison after he was found guilty of “sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography,” per the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Austin Coates, 27, was charged in early April with 101 felonies after the Leon County Sheriff’s Office raided his home and found child sexual abuse materials, according to court documents.
Investigators said they discovered evidence of Coates “sending child pornography to minors, some who were as young as 13 years of age, and requesting they produce their own sexually explicit content to send to him.”
Law enforcement also found “multiple electronic devices which contained hundreds of child pornography videos and images, some depicting young children and toddlers,” per the attorney’s office.
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Homeland Security Investigations Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno said this case was a “brutal reminder” of the importance of holding those who commit child sex crimes accountable.
“This predator weaponized social media to target, entice, and manipulate vulnerable children to produce sexually explicit material to add to his collection of vile content,” Ingegno said. “The hundreds of images and videos in his possession represent countless children, some as young as toddlers, whose pain was preserved and traded like currency.”
After serving out his 20-year prison sentence, Coates will be out on supervised release for the rest of his life, according to the attorney’s office. The attorney’s office also said the 27-year-old was ordered to pay restitution to the victims.
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