Source: Office of United States Attorneys
NASHVILLE – Peter Allen Snyder, 43, of Smyrna, Tennessee, was sentenced last Thursday to 20 years in federal prison after having pled guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of distribution of child pornography, announced Robert E. McGuire, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Snyder also is required to register as a sex offender.
“One of our office’s highest priorities is the aggressive prosecution of crimes against children,” said Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire. “We will seek to hold these criminals accountable in order to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.”
According to court records, on November 21, 2019, Snyder created at least nine sexually explicit images of the Minor Victim on his cell phone which depicted her naked from the waist down. Snyder’s hand was visible in one of the images. Snyder later distributed these photographs through the internet. The creation and distribution of these sexually explicit images came to light in December 2021, when Yahoo submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. The CyberTip contained twenty-five images of child sexual abuse material, including nine of the Minor Victim, which had been sent by e-mail from a Russian-based e-mail service, with the subject header reading “Trade.”
The images of the Minor Victim contained gps data confirming the images were produced at or near the vicinity of Snyder’s residence in Cannon County. These images also included data about the cell phone used to create the sexually explicit images of the Minor Victim. When Snyder was questioned about the cell phone following his arrest, he said he had disposed of it at a recycling kiosk.
After serving his sentence, Snyder will be on supervised release for the remainder of his life.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Woodbury Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica R. Morrison prosecuted the case.
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