LOS ANGELES
– A federal judge yesterday sentenced a Santa Barbara County man to 246 months’
incarceration for distribution of child pornography.
Christopher
Robin Coates, 43, of Carpinteria, met minors in online chat rooms dedicated to
youths seeking father figures and manipulated them into sending him child
pornography images of themselves. According to court records, Coates would also
share the minors’ online "handles" with other persons seeking to
exploit children.
When law
enforcement officers searched his digital devices, they found more than 1,000
images and 128 videos depicting child pornography. According to court
documents, Coates used the Kik Messenger app to distribute child pornography to
underage victims. Coates had several prior convictions for possessing child
pornography in addition to a conviction for sexual battery on a disabled adult.
In July,
2015, based on a tip to the Postal Inspection Service by the National Center
for Missing & Exploited Children, law enforcement officers conducted a
parole search of Coates’ residence. During the search, authorities recovered a
Samsung tablet under a mattress that contained hundreds of images and videos of
child pornography.
Coates was
originally arrested and charged with multiple child exploitation crimes in
Santa Barbara County by Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley. The
District Attorney’s Office subsequently dismissed the state charges when the
federal indictment was filed.
The case was
investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department, the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Los Angeles Joint Regional
Intelligence Center provided substantial assistance.
The case was
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Devon Myers and Vanessa
Baehr-Jones of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.
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