Florence man sentenced to 15 years for producing, sending child pornography

FLORENCE, Texas (KXAN) — A Florence man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for producing and sharing child pornography, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

Joseph Reichard, 23, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison plus 15 years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said. He was charged with sexual exploitation of a child and production of child pornography.

The office said Reichard used his cell phone to produce images of child sexual abuse material showing a minor between 1 and 3 years of age. The images were sent on a messaging app to someone in Pennsylvania.

Reichard was arrested in March 2022 and pled guilty in October, the DOJ said.

The office said the case was part of Project Safe Childhood, which combats child sexual exploitation and abuse. The FBI's San Antonio Division and Pittsburgh Division investigated the case.