A Texas man who emailed a sexually explicit video of a child to an undercover federal agent last year was sentenced on Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to 14 years in prison.

Steven Sawyer, 37, of Splendora, Texas, pleaded guilty before Judge Jon Levy on March 25 to a charge of transportation of child pornography.

Sawyer sent an email on Oct. 8, 2014, to numerous recipients on a distribution list pertaining to child pornography with a subject line stating, “P.T.H.C., an acronym for preteen hardcore, with only one word in the body of the email, “Trade?” Without Sawyer’s knowledge, David Fife, a federal agent in Maine from the Department of Homeland Security, was one of the recipients, according to a prosecution document filed with the court.

Afterward, Fife exchanged emails with Sawyer, including one email from Sawyer with the video of a child being raped, and Fife afterward obtained a search warrant to further examine Sawyer’s email account, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff wrote in the prosecution document.

The judge also sentenced Sawyer to serve 10 years of supervised release after completing his prison term.

 

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