Elderly Staunton, man caught with child porn showing prepubescent boys, spared prison
STAUNTON — A man caught with child pornography in December was spared a prison term Tuesday after pleading guilty in court to three felony charges.
Health concerns were cited as one of the reasons the Staunton Commonwealth's Attorney's Office didn't seek time behind bars for the defendant.
In December, police arrested Luther A. Sandridge Jr., 68, of Staunton, after the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children contacted the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force concerning allegations he had downloaded child porn earlier that year.
Staunton Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Joseph Perry said multiple files of child porn were found stored on Sandridge's Google drive. When questioned by police, he admitted to having the child porn and said he was viewing it out of "curiosity," Perry said Tuesday in Staunton Circuit Court.
Perry said Sandridge also admitted to looking at child porn in the past but said he claimed he'd stopped for some time.
Sandridge was initially facing 10 felony counts, but the charges were whittled down to three in a plea agreement. "I apologize for the graphic descriptions here," said Perry, who noted the three charges in question involved videos of prepubescent boys masturbating or fondling one another.
In explaining the plea deal with no prison time and why he went below Virginia's recommended sentencing guidelines, which are not binding, Perry told the court that Sandridge is suffering from cancer. He said Sandridge was also cooperative with police once he realized he was under investigation. Following his arrest, Sandridge began sex offender treatment, Perry said.
There was no evidence he was trading or sharing his child porn, according to Perry.
Sandridge was sentenced to five years with all five years suspended, and placed on five years of supervised probation. He faced a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Sandridge, who was represented by attorney Lethia Hammond, will be registered as a sex offender.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Elderly Staunton man spared prison in child pornography case
