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The News Journal: Delaware courts: ‘Santa’ gets 20 years for child pornography
A child photographer who used to dress up as Santa Claus was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for sexually exploiting children.
Steven Hughes, 52, of the first block of Dempsey Drive east of Newark, was charged last year with 10 counts of using a computer to unlawfully depict children in a prohibited sexual act. He was later indicted on 30 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and 30 counts of dealing in child pornography.
He pleaded guilty in April to five counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
“This is a message that people who create, possess and ultimately distribute child pornography: We are going to get you,” Attorney Beau Biden said in a telephone interview. “This is a great example of that.”
Biden added he was “extremely” proud of the work on the case by New Castle County police and the Delaware Child Predator Task Force.
Hughes had more than 15,000 images of children being sexually exploited — hundreds of which he created himself, the Attorney General’s Office said.
The images were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to determine if any of the children pictured are known victims.
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