Paris man gets 25-year sentence for producing child pornography

JACKSON, Tenn. — A Paris, Tennessee man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for producing child pornography while being a registered sex offender.

According to U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz, 56-year-old Charles Anthony Anderson was sentenced by Chief Judge S. Thomas Anderson on November 16.

A news release states that Anderson was required to register as a sex offender after being convicted of two counts of molestation of a minor in Florida in 2003, for which he served 60 months on community corrections.

The release says in February 2021, Anderson asked a few people to help him do some cleaning and repairs at Mountain Top Vapors in Buchanan, Tennessee, where he was part-owner at the time.

The release states while a man was working to fix a security camera, he discovered a cellphone hidden on top of a China cabinet. The release says the man took the phone home and charged it in an attempt to see if he could determine the owner, and when the phone powered on, it revealed a photo of a nude prepubescent girl as the phone’s screensaver. The man then viewed the phone’s photo gallery, which included an image of a child engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

The release states other information on the phone indicated that it belonged to Anderson, and once the man confronted Anderson, he admitted to taking the photos.

According to the release, Anderson showed up to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office on May 5, 2021, where he gave a full recorded confession and admitted to taking the photos found on the phone. A federal search warrant was obtained for the phone and an investigation corroborated Anderson’s admission.

Anderson’s 25-year-prison sentence is also to be followed by five years of supervised release, and the U.S. Department of Justice reminds that there is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deb Ireland.

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