BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A Boise man has been sentenced to 85 years in prison after he was convicted of making and distributing child pornography.
Fourth District Judge Deborah Bail sentenced 52-year-old Gunnar Ericsson on Wednesday, saying he must serve at least 15 years before he is eligible for parole.
A jury found Ericsson guilty in November of seven felonies including sexual exploitation of a child and sexual abuse of a minor.
Prosecutors said he was first investigated in 2010, when a victim reported that Ericsson sexually abused her and took photos of the abuse. But at the time, detectives couldn’t find the photos and the victim recanted her report, so the charges were dismissed.
During the initial investigation, Ericsson used the name Eric Sausman, but he legally changed his name to Ericsson after the charges were dismissed.
In 2017, law enforcement got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that six videos of child pornography had been shared from an email account connected to Ericsson. Detectives said they then found child pornography on Ericsson’s computer, including photos of the original victim from 2010, and learned Ericsson had intimidated the girl into recanting her testimony years earlier.
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