PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA (BNO NEWS) – A member of an international group of child pornography collectors has pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Friday.

Dave Dean, 42, who previously resided in Texas and Arizona, along with others, used a social networking site to distribute thousands of sexually explicit images to other members of the closed international group, that had formed on the social networking website.

Members of the group distributed thousands of sexually explicit images and videos of children to each other. Many of the images were of prepubescent male children, some as young as infants, being graphically sexually abused and sodomized or subjected to bondage.

Information during the hearing revealed that Dean engaged in a child exploitation enterprise through a series of felony child pornography violations constituting more than three separate incidents that were performed in concert with multiple people and that involved many child victims from January 1, 2007 through September 22, 2009.

The law provides for a total sentence of not less than 20 years and a maximum of life in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and Dean’s criminal history, if any.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 3.

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