CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On Monday, Jeremy McQuage, 41, of Morven, N.C. was sentenced to 160 months in prison on child pornography charges.
In December, 2019, McQuage plead guilty to distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography according to court documents.
Over the course of an investigation into BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing network, the FBI discovered that an individual, later identified as McQuage, was downloading child pornography, including videos and images of infants being sexually abused.
On March 14th, 2019, the FBI executed a search warrant at the residence where the internet had been used to access and download the child pornography.
While there, FBI agents say they learned that McQuage did not reside there but would often park in the driveway of the residence and use the wifi to connect to the internet.
Agents located McQuage and seized his cellular phone.
A forensic analysis of the device revealed that McQuage possessed hundreds of images and videos of children, including infants and toddlers, being sexually abused.
According to court records, in addition to downloading child pornography, McQuage also used BitTorrent to distribute and share the child pornography with others.
In announcing today’s sentence, the Judge said that the court was troubled by the quantity and the gravity of the images and videos, and that McQuage’s conduct helped feed and facilitate a global market of abuse.
Morven was also reportedly ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release, and to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison term.
