A man accused of getting two children to engage in sexual contact for years so he could record them was sentenced to 600 years in prison Friday, federal prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler sentenced Matthew Tyler Miller, 32, of Cottondale to what amounted to a life term a year after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexually exploiting young children.
The crimes for which Miller has admitted guilt are not only disturbing, they are sickening, and his actions robbed these children of their childhood, FBI Special Agent Johnnie Sharp Jr. said in a statement.
Miller enticed children to have sexual contact between 2014 and February 2019, an indictment said. A statement from prosecutors said the two victims were as young as 4 when the incidents occurred.
An examination of electronic devices owned by Miller turned up 102 pornographic images that had produced of the children, prosecutors said. Miller pleaded guilty in October 2019.
Miller still faces a state sodomy charge that accuses him of having sex with a child younger than 12 last year, records show.
In another event, the U.S. State Department said it was outraged by a rocket attack a day earlier that killed Iraqi civilians and called on the government to take action amid an impending diplomatic crisis between Baghdad and Washington.
The condemnation comes after the U.S. threatened to close its embassy in Baghdad unless Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s administration reigns in armed groups responsible for frequent rocket fire and roadside bomb attacks targeting the American presence in the country.
We are outraged by yesterdays rocket attack in Baghdad that killed civilians, including a mother and her children, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
The attacks have not let up, despite the U.S. threats.
Iraqi security officials believe the rocket was intended for nearby Baghdad airport, a frequent target of such attacks, where U.S. troops maintain a presence.
( with inputs from AP)