Aaron Edward Briggs, 28, formerly of Morgan City, Louisiana, was sentenced yesterday to thirty (30) years in prison without the possibility of parole on one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor via the Production of Child Pornography.
The Honorable Chief Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Hot Springs.
According to court documents, in October 2019, Briggs, of Bismarck, met and began a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female. During the course of the sexual relationship, Briggs sent a picture of his genitals to the minor via Facebook Messenger.
During a subsequent online conversation, Briggs requested that the minor take and send him sexually explicit images of herself. The evidence recovered during the investigation revealed numerous sexually explicit images of the minor that were sent to Briggs.
Briggs was originally charged in Hot Springs Circuit Court on October 11, 2019 with Internet Stalking of a Child, Computer Child Pornography and Fourth Degree Sexual Assault but his case was transferred to federal court last October.
He has managed to have a number of misdemeanor charges tagged to his rap sheet since 2015, mostly for traffic citations, failure to appear and theft of property but his arrest on the sex-related cnharges are the only felony arrest that shows up in Arkansas for Briggs.
Acting U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement of the conviction and sentence on Thursday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations, Little Rock Division investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyra Jenner prosecuted the case for the United States.
This case was prosecuted 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 CEOS, 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.justice.gov/psc.
