ROSE HILL, Va — A Rose Hill, Virginia man found guilty of receiving, possessing, and distributing child pornography was sentenced on June 23 to over 19 years in prison.

Robert Franklin Doyle, Jr., 46, was sentenced in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to serve 235 months in prison. Doyle was found guilty by a jury in the U.S District Court House of Big Stone Gap on December 9, 2008. The jury found Doyle guilty of one count of receiving child pornography, one county of possessing child pornography, and three counts of distributing child pornography.

“Parents need to know that their children are protected when they log onto the Internet,” said United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley. “And while some of those protections do start at home, we as a law enforcement community have an obligation to do everything in our power to investigate and prosecute child pornographers. Thanks to the hard work of the men and women who investigated and prosecuted this crime, there is one less predator lurking on the internet today.”

According to evidence presented at the trial, Doyle knowingly received and transmitted, via e-mail, images he knew contained child pornography between August 2003 and January 2004.

The evidence also established that Doyle had exhibited a pattern of abusing young boys from the Rose Hill area. The court accepted evidence from two young men who testified they had been sexually abused by Doyle in 2003.

“It is imperative that we work to bring to justice those who continue to exploit children through the possession and distribution of child pornography. Our office has worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service to resolve this case in a just manner. I commend the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who worked diligently to see this case through,” said Attorney General Bill Mims.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police, and the United States Secret Service. The case was prosecuted for the United States by Gene Fishel, Special Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Bockhorst.

Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.