Mountain Home man sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison for child pornography
A Mountain Home man was sentenced to over 24 years in federal prison for charges related to child pornography Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho and court documents.
Matthew Eric Cairns, 39, pleaded guilty to the distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to court documents.
“Our children should be protected, not preyed on by criminals like Matthew Cairn,” said Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent in Charge Dennis Rice in a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office. “He not only helped proliferate this deplorable crime but subjected young victims to emotional and physical harm that they may never get over in their lifetime.”
In 2020, an FBI agent was monitoring LiveMe, a mobile app that allows users to live stream videos and chat, for the trading of child pornography, according to court documents. In April 2020, the agent saw a user — later identified as Cairns — posted a link that contained several files of child pornography, including a video depicting a toddler engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Later on May 7, 2020, the agent saw Cairns post two images of child pornography that showed prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts, according to documents. Through the use of subpoenas, the FBI found the LiveMe user was Cairns via his phone number, according to court documents.
The FBI obtained a federal search warrant for Cairn’s home to search for evidence of the possession of child porn in July 2020, according to the release. While executing the warrant, Cairns attempted to hide his cellphone in an air vent — which the FBI seized. The cellphone contained over 500 images and 48 videos of child pornography, the release said.
Additionally, the FBI found evidence Cairns had been communicating via Snapchat with a 10-year-old girl and requested she send him explicit videos of herself, according to the news release and court records. The FBI located several videos of child pornography of the girl on Cairns’ cellphone.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Cairns to serve 10 years of supervised release after prison and pay $18,000 in restitution to the victims in the images he possessed, according to the release. Cairns will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Under federal law, the distribution of child pornography is punishable by no less than five years in prison and up to 20 years. And the possession of child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years.
The FBI worked in collaboration with the U.S. Marshals Service and the Mountain Home Police Department, according to the release.
“The collaboration between city and federal partners in this case shows our joint commitment to protecting Idaho’s children and holding predators accountable to the full extent of the law,” U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez, Jr., of the District of Idaho said.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 3:23 PM.
