Man who organized online child porn groups sentenced to 12.5 years

A Texas man has been convicted on charges of using the messaging app Kik to organize groups where child pornography was circulated.

Michael Stephen Autry, 42, of Texas, now faces 12 years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography, according to the office of Kurt R. Erskine, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Autry created a group on the app in mid-2017 titled “Taboo Train 2.0,” according to investigators, where he invited other individuals to share explicit photos and videos. Among the individuals invited was an undercover FBI agent pretending to be a pedophile, who recorded the content of the group.

The group had more than 50 individuals join, some of whom lived outside the United States. Most members did not post content in the group.

Several weeks later, Autry created another, similar group titled, “The Common Interest,” which likewise had dozens of members. Later in 2017, he was added to two additional groups where photos and videos of child sexual abuse were posted. The FBI agent was a member of all of the groups.

Eleven other members of the groups have been charged with child pornography offenses to date, Erskine’s office said.