Venice man gets 330 years on child porn charges in 'sex tourism' trial

This story has been updated to show changes made by the FBI to its press release from April 22.

A Venice man has been sentenced to 330 years in prison after being convicted on child pornography charges, for taking sex tourism trips to the Philippines, making videos of his sexual encounters with children and posting them on-line.

David Paul Lynch was tried and found guilty late last year after an investigation by the FBI's Fort Myers Child Exploitation Task Force, Sarasota police, U.S. customs agents and international authorities.

"Some of his victims were as young as 11 years old," Special Agent Daniel Ward, of the Fort Myers task force, said in a statement. "There was no question these were little kids."

At trial, prosecutors produced evidence that Lynch made regular trips to the Philippines to engage in sex with children, which he recorded and distributed.

"The child pornography he was receiving online caught the attention of officials at the social media platform he was using," Ward said.

The trips began in 2005 and continued until December 2016, when he was arrested at San Francisco International Airport attempting to board a flight to the Philippines.

At least one trip was arranged through the mother of one of the young victims, prosecutors said

FBI agents said the investigation began when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Internet sites where the child pornography was posted.

Federal law aimed at child sex tourism allows prosecution of U.S. citizens who engage in sexual conduct with a child in a foreign land.

The sentence imposed by federal Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington included 12 consecutive terms in prison, including 10 consecutive 30-year terms, two of 20 years, and one 10-year term following his conviction last October.

Lynch has two young children in the Philippines, prosecutors said in a trial memorandum.

The judge also ordered Lynch to forfeit his bayfront home at 705 El Dorado Drive in Venice, assessed at $414,000, to the government, along with computer equipment and storage devices.

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

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