INDIANAPOLIS – A Shelbyville man was sentenced in federal court to 200 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.
U.S. Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced Wednesday that Jeffrey Esposito, 54, Shelbyville, received the sentence from U.S. District Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.
“Esposito tortured, sexually abused, and sexually exploited children for years,” said Minkler. “Judge Magnus-Stinson’s sentence ensures that he will never come in contact with another child again.”
On April 11, 2018, Esposito was charged by indictment with 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography. The first 20 charges related to the recording of his repeated sexual abuse of his minor victim. The defendant’s sexual abuse of the victim started when the victim was approximately 7-8 years old and continued for years, including bondage and torture sessions with choking, whipping, and other forms of pain, according to court documents.
The 20 counts represent 20 images or videos of abuse and exploitation over multiple occasions out of the hundreds of sexual abuse files that the defendant created using this minor victim, according to Minkler. The defendant was a member of various websites devoted to the sexual exploitation of children on an anonymous network, and he participated on various anonymous chatting platforms where he met other offenders, shared his produced material, and specifically requested and received child pornography from those users in exchange, Minkler said.
The final charge represents the thousands of other depictions of sexual abuse that Esposito maintained on his various devices, which included images and videos depicting bondage and torture, images and videos depicting children as young as 3 years old, and images and videos of minor victims who were abused by other offenders specifically for Esposito’s benefit, according to court documents.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
