A West Fork man was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in federal prison, followed by 25 years of supervised release, for the production of child pornography, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas Kenneth Elser said.
Nathan Johnson, 26, admitted to encouraging a 15-year-old girl who lives in Fort Smith to send him naked pictures of herself through the Facebook Messenger app, according to a news release from Elser.
Johnson met the teenager on the social media website and originally told her that he was a minister, according to a criminal complaint. They began chatting online about their involvement in church, and their conversations became sexual in nature, with Johnson asking the girl to send him explicit photos and videos. Johnson also sent the girl graphic images of himself, according to the complaint.
The girl's parents discovered the messages earlier this year and contacted law enforcement.
Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury March 16, and he pled guilty April 13. Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over Tuesday's sentencing hearing at the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
The FBI and the Fort Smith Police Department investigated the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative created by the Department of Justice in 2006 to find and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children online.