An Ann Arbor man was sentenced to federal prison Thursday for possessing and trading child pornography through a now-defunct feature of Google.com.
Peter Christian Lukasavitz, 31, was ordered to serve 15 years in prison during a brief sentencing hearing in Detroit federal court Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's office press release indicated.
Lukasavitz pleaded guilty to transportation of child pornographic material earlier this year. Investigators said he had a collection of more than 1,000 erotic images of children and pornographic movies depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as 20 months old, the release said.
Neither Lukasavitz nor his Saline-based attorney, M. Ellen Dennis, returned calls from the News on Friday.
Prior to his arrest in 2008, Lukasavitz consistently traded the images with others through "Google Hello,'' a peer-to-peer messaging and instant photo-sharing Web site.
He and others discussed their mutual sexual interest in and the sexual assaults of children, officials said.
"The judge aptly described these images as horrifying and unimaginable, " U.S. Attorney Terry Berg said in a written statement. "A 15-year prison sentence will hopefully provide a strong deterrent to others who would consider traveling this road.''
The site was known for its instant messenger-style photos sharing application that simplified sending photos to others via an encrypted connection.
The Internet search giant ceased the photo-sharing and chat site in May 2008.
Lukasavitz was arrested after authorities seized the computer of a trading partner in Pennsylvania.
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