Springetts 'brony' gets 7 years in prison for 'sadistic' child porn

A Springettsbury Township "brony" who possessed sadistic child porn will spend the next seven years behind bars.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release that Robert E. Miller III, 34, was sentenced Wednesday, May 23, to seven years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

He also must pay a $5,200 special assessment for possessing the child porn.

In December, Miller was found guilty of possessing images depicting the sexual exploitation of young children and receiving visual representations depicting the sexual abuse of children.

More:Fed jury: Springetts 'brony' possessed sadistic child porn

Brony: Evidence presented during Miller's trial indicates he is what's known as a "brony," according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Daryl Ford Bloom, who prosecuted Miller. 

Bronies are adult men — and some adult women — who are fans of the My Little Pony franchise.

Northern York County Regional Police Detective Mark Baker filed charges in York County Court in June 2016 after finding on Miller's computers foreign-based videos depicting adults committing sexual abuse on toddlers and prepubescent girls, according to court documents.

Baker is a member of the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, which is why he was part of the investigation, according to Northern Regional Lt. David Lash.

Miller's local charges were dismissed after the federal charges were filed.

His federal indictment states some of the videos depicted "sadistic abuse" of children.

Northern Regional Police and FBI agents found hundreds of videos of sexual abuse of children, including videos that feature sodomy, bondage, violent rape and forcible penetration with objects, according to Dawn Mayko, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. 

Anime videos: The most violent, sadistic videos were anime, Bloom said.

Bloom said those images shouldn't be dismissed as simply cartoons.

"I had very experienced FBI agents — who are used to dealing with this kind of material — who were horrified," he said. "And they've seen a lot of stuff. It's very graphic."

Bloom said his office and the Child Exploitation Task Force are "ever vigilant" about going after those who exploit children.

— Reach Christopher Dornblaser at cdornblaser@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @YDDornblaser.