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A 19-year-old Iowa man who filmed himself molesting a baby girl two years ago plead guilty to engaging in a lascivious act with a child Monday and was given a sentence that could keep the teen out of prison, according to media reports.

Kraigen Grooms, 19, received a 10-year suspended sentence and five years of supervised release after federal agents said he filmed himself raping a 12-month to 18-month-old girl in 2014 and put the footage on an underground pornography website, KTVO reported Tuesday. But an Iowa prosecutor told the Associated Press that Grooms did not actually rape or cause any physical harm to the child.

Grooms' suspended sentence means if he does not violate the terms of his probation and does not break the law during his 5-year sentence, he will not be sent to jail. He will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

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On March 17, 2014, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put out a news release asking for the public’s help in finding Grooms, who they thought might be from the Dallas area at the time.

At the time, federal agents said Grooms was wanted for producing child pornography "in which he photographed himself engaging in sexual contact with an African American baby girl 12 to 18 months old."

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He was found and arrested within 30 hours of the news release being published. He awaited trial for two years in the Wapello County Jail on one charge of sexual abuse in the second degree, a class B felony, Ottumwa Radio reported. He faced up to 25 years in prison.

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The investigation into Grooms was part of “Operation Predator” by Homeland Security Investigations, an initiative that identifies, investigates and arrests child predators.

The Iowa prosecutor told the AP that Grooms was duped into the act and that the sentence was suspended in part because the victim's parents ask that he not be sent to prison.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5