OAKLAND — A Bay Area man has been sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison for exchanging explicit content with dozens of teens he met online, according to court records.
Robert Taunton, 36, of El Sobrante, pleaded guilty to distribution and possession of child pornography, and was sentenced on Oct. 18 by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar. He has also been ordered to pay $15,000 in victim restitution and serve five years of supervised release after his prison sentence.
Prosecutors said that Taunton “successfully groomed 42 minor children into exchanging sexually explicit material with him,” primarily using Instagram to communicate with the victims, and often posing as a teen to gain their trust.
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“Taunton used translation services, flattery, and messages of purported love and caring to encourage young boys to produce (child sexual abuse material) of themselves,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Volkar wrote in a sentencing memo. “Yet, Taunton ignored claims from these minor children of abuse at the hands of parents, encouraged them to film themselves even while at school, and pressured at least one child who said he had never shared pictures of his genitalia with anyone else.”
When an undercover federal agent talked with Taunton online, he claimed a sexual interest in kids as young as 10, and in fact possessed child sexual abuse material depicting prepubescent children, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors asked for a seven-year prison term and the defense requested a five-year prison sentence.
Taunton’s lawyer wrote in court filings that he was a “low risk” to re-offend and will have to deal with the stigma of being a sex offender for the rest of his life. Taunton also wrote an apology letter to Tigar in which he said he was staying off the internet.
“What I did and the trauma I inflicted on others weighs heavy on my shoulders and I wish I could take back what I’ve done,” Taunton wrote. “Words cannot express the amount of remorse I feel for the crimes I committed.”