A U.S. Marine must serve 62 years in prison in a Texas child pornography case linked to about 16,000 images found on his electronic devices.
John Anthony Perez of Aransas Pass was sentenced Wednesday by a federal judge in Corpus Christi. The 37-year-old Perez pleaded guilty in May to three counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
Investigators said Perez says he became interested in child pornography when he was serving in the military and deployed overseas.
Prosecutors said Perez was suspected of the sexual assault of three children. A March search warrant of his home led to the seizure of multiple electronic devices with thousands of pornographic images.
Investigators said Perez, who was sentenced to 750 months behind bars, was producing child porn.
