Making, trading child porn lands Liberty University student from Raleigh in prison for 26 years

Justin Cole Milam, 22, of 5633 Quail Covey Lane, pleaded guilty in October to manufacturing child pornography. Once he is released from prison, he will spend the rest of his life on probation.

A Google tip about child pornography in 2015 led authorities to a registered sex offender in California, and a search of his cellphone turned up an instant messenger app he used to swap child porn with others, including Milam, authorities said. Milam logged into his account from different IP addresses, one of which was associated with Liberty, a Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., where he was a student, authorities said.

When he was arrested in January 2017, Milam admitted to FBI agents that he had been trading child porn for about two years. An examination of a hard drive at his home revealed 986 explicit images and 117 videos, including material showing infants and toddlers being sexually abused, authorities said.

Agents also found that Milam solicited explicit photos from youths ages 13 to 17 that he later shared with others.

U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon said Milam "preyed upon numerous of our most vulnerable citizens."

"Through the manufacture and collection and distribution of child pornography the defendant victimized our children in the most degrading and base way. The sentence imposed by the court is extremely appropriate and should be a warning to others who would threaten our children in this way," Higdon said in a statement.