Burke County Man Sentenced to More than 16 Years for Child Pornography

A Burke County man was sentenced today to more than 16 years in prison after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to the Production of Child Pornography.

Authorities say 21-year-old Keyshawn Omar Cooper of Waynesboro communicated online with an 11-year-old child in Cape Girardeau, Missouri while playing the "Grand Theft Auto" video game.  Cooper pretended to be a young girl to persuade the child to send sexually explicit photos to him.  The child's mother discovered the activity and reported it to police in Cape Girardeau.

The FBI was called to help identify and find Cooper.  Agents found images, along with other sexually explicit images of children, saved on a phone seized from Cooper.

"The internet is a very important and useful resource, but unfortunately can also be used for illegal activity as criminals like Cooper seek to prey on the most vulnerable of our population," said Brian Ozden, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.  "Let this be a reminder to parents and caregivers, people can pretend to be anyone online, and you need to remain vigilant with monitoring your child's online gaming activity and educating them about the risks of communicating with strangers."

In addition to 200 months in prison, U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall also ordered Cooper to pay $3,000 in restitution,  serve 15 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender after he's released from prison.

Anyone with information on suspected child sexual exploitation can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678, or https://report.cybertip.org/.