Photo credit: FBI

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A man in Florida has been convicted for a number of sex tourism trips to the Philippines where he made videos of his exploits with children as young as 6. David Paul Lynch was sentenced to 330 years for child pornography charges stemming from his sexual encounters with children on his "sex tourism" trips which he filmed and posting online.

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Lynch was found guilty last year after an extensive investigation headed by the FBI's Fort Meyers Child Exploitation Task Force that included Sarasota police, U.S. customs agents and international authorities. Special Agent Daniel Ward of the Fort Meyers task force said, "Some of his victims were as young as 6 or 7 years old. There was no question these were little kids."

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Prosecutors showed evidence at Lynch's trial that he traveled to the Philippines to have sex with children. Lynch filmed the encounters and distributed them online prompting employees of the social media platform to report him to authorities. "The child pornography he was sending and receiving online caught the attention of officials at the social media platform he was using," Ward said.

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The FBI began investigating Lynch when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from employees of the social media platforms he was using to distribute his child pornography. The FBI was able to prosecute Lynch thanks to a federal law that targets sex tourism and allows prosecution of U.S. citizens who sexually abuse children abroad.

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Lynch's sex tours began in 2005 and continued for over a decade until they stopped in December 2016 when he was arrested. When authorities arrested him, he was trying to board a flight to the Philippines at the San Francisco International Airport. Prosecutors say at least one of those trips was arranged by the mother of one of Lynch's victims.

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Federal Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington sentenced the pedophile to 12 consecutive life sentences, 10 consecutive 30-year terms, two 20 year terms, and one 10-year term totaling 330 years in prison. Prosecutors also said Lynch has two young children in the Philippines. As part of his sentence, Lynch was ordered to forfeit his bayfront home at 705 El Dorado Drive in Venice, California. The home was assessed at $414,000 which was turned over to the government.

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Sarasota police Detective Megan Buck said, "The sentence sets a precedent and really sends a message. The community is not going to tolerate this kind of exploitation of children anymore."

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/04/22/florida-man-gets-330-years-child-porn-charges-sex-tourism-trial/540295002/

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