ST. PAUL, Minn. – A St. Louis County man was sentenced today to 192 months in prison followed by twenty years of supervised release for distribution of child pornography.
According to court documents, Michael Patrick Bushey, 32, admitted to the September 20, 2015 distribution of child sexual abuse images. Bushey further admitted that more than 3,900 images and at least 16 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including images of prepubescent minors under the age of 12, were discovered in the cell phone and accounts he possessed.]
Bushey has previous State of Minnesota child pornography convictions and was on probation for those convictions when he committed the distribution offense. He served 33 months for violation of probation on those convictions before being taken into federal custody. Bushey pleaded guilty on June 14, 2021, to one count of distribution of child pornography.
Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk for the District of Minnesota made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud sentenced the defendant.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda M. Sertich.
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