FARGO - A Fargo man who made child pornography using a 3-year-old and stored more than 11,000 files of child pornography at his home was sentenced in federal court here to 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Judge Ralph Erickson sentenced Duane William Barth II on March 23 for the crimes of production of child pornography, receipt and distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography.
Barth, 30, was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release and $16,000 in restitution.
Barth was arrested in late 2014 on child pornography charges that were eventually transferred from Cass County District Court to federal court.
Court documents at the time stated Barth took nude videos and pictures of a young girl, including one that showed him sexually assaulting her.
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“Barth produced and distributed images depicting a 3-year-old child engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Dakota said in a statement after the sentencing.
“The sentence handed down in this case is a strong message that protection of children from this reprehensible conduct remains a priority with the U.S. Attorney’s office in North Dakota and all of our law enforcement partners,” U.S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers said in the statement.
Authorities were led to Barth after arresting another person in Gatling, Tenn., who was sharing child pornography with Barth, the statement said.
A search of Barth’s email account showed he was receiving and sending child pornography from May 2014 to October 2014, the statement said, and a search of Barth’s home turned up more than 11,000 files of child pornography on multiple electronic devices.
