A Sterling man has been sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for producing child pornography of himself engaging in sexual acts with a child in his care, authorities said.
Shiloh Richard Forrest, 37, drew a sentence of 26 years and 8 months in prison, plus 10 years on probation. He has already served nearly a year of that sentence while his case proceeded through the court.
Forrest pleaded guilty in May to producing child pornography. According to a statement of facts submitted to the court as part of his guilty plea, Forrest requested a number of videos from “Envy Video,” an undercover video company operated by the U.S. Postal Service and designed to catch suspected child predators. Forrest also sent an undercover investigator several photos and videos of minors engaging in sexual acts, according to court documents.
Eventually, federal investigators searched Forrest’s home last June and found iPhone videos dating to summer 2010, depicting Forrest engaging in sexual acts with a 5-year-old girl in his apartment and in his family’s hotel room in Ocean City, Md., according to court documents.
According to the statement of facts, Forrest and his family had checked into the Ocean City hotel room for a one-week vacation at the time the video was filmed, and the 5-year-old girl was in Forrest’s “care, custody and control.” Court documents didn’t specify whether she was biologically related to Forrest.
Forrest also had at least 600 additional videos of child porn on his computer, police said.
In a sentencing memo, the defense lawyer requested that Forrest be sentenced to no less than 20 years in prison, acknowledging the seriousness of his crime but pointing out that Forrest suffers from several mental illnesses and had taken responsibility for his actions. Federal prosecutors had asked for a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison in addition to lifetime probation.
