By Judy Harrison
Bangor Daily News Staff
BANGOR — A Fort Fairfield man who adopted the online identity of a 13-year-old girl was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to 20 years in federal prison for transportation of child pornography, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office.
Christopher Hitchcock, 26, pleaded guilty to the charge in November.
In imposing the maximum sentence, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock noted Hitchcock’s lengthy criminal record, including convictions for assault and domestic violence, and unrelated charges pending against him in state court in Aroostook County for attempted gross sexual assault and visual sexual aggression against a child, a press release issued Monday said.
In addition to prison time, Hitchcock was sentenced to 20 years of supervised release. He will be required to register as a sex offender after his release.
Hitchcock used images of a real 13-year-old girl and sent them between June and December 2010 to a variety of people from his parents’ residence in Fort Fairfield, all the while indicating that he was the girl in the photos, according to court documents.
The girl in one of the images was identified as a real child by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to the prosecution version of events to which Hitchcock pleaded guilty. The photographs were taken of her in the Netherlands when she was between 8 and 13 years old.
Police found in Hitchcock’s sent file 128 emails with 704 images of child erotica and 2,586 images of child pornography, the prosecution version of events said.
In exchange for Hitchcock’s guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office dismissed one count each of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.
Hitchcock faced between five and 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
