PORTLAND — A Lewiston man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Tuesday for possessing and distributing child pornography.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Lance Walker sentenced Harold Clayton III, 35, to the maximum penalty of 20 years, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Clayton pleaded guilty to the charges in March.
Clayton’s sentencing followed an investigation that began in 2022 with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
In June 2022 a cloud storage provider reported uploads of suspected child pornography to the center. The tip was forwarded to the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit, which identified Clayton as the account holder.
Three months later, state police and Lewiston police searched his home, seizing a Samsung phone and laptop.
Federal investigators linked Clayton to a Telegram account he used to share images and videos of children being sexually abused, according to court documents. The account was tied to Clayton’s phone number and included personal photos of himself.
Investigators uncovered over 1,800 images and 60 videos portraying child sexual abuse, which included toddlers, and deleted material and chat messages showing Clayton distributed the videos and images to others.
During the search, Clayton admitted receiving and saving child pornography, but initially claimed he was trying to collect evidence against another online user, court records said.
Clayton’s defense requested a 10-year sentence, citing Clayton’s early guilty plea, expressions of remorse and his supportive family. The defense argued that Clayton had worked steadily before his arrest, maintained a positive record in jail and could benefit from treatment. The defense cited recent research suggesting many offenders convicted of possessing child porn are not likely to escalate to “hands-on” abuse.
Prosecutors argued that due to the amount of files and ages of the victims, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison was justified.
Judge Walker ultimately imposed the 20-year sentence, noting that Clayton’s conduct warranted the maximum punishment. Clayton will register as a sex offender and will have strict supervision upon release, including restrictions on internet use.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine prosecuted the case and Homeland Security Investigations, the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit and the Lewiston Police Department investigated the case.
Homeland Security Investigations praised the CyberTipline process for bringing it to light.
“HSI commends the reporting of this heinous abuse of children to the CyberTipline, enabling law enforcement to take action and make sure Harold Clayton faced the full weight of justice,” special agent Michael J. Krol said.
If you know of or suspect child sexual abuse material, file a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678. Anyone affected by sexual assault or abuse can find help 24/7 at 1-800-871-7741.
