EVANSVILLE — A man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl and recording it.
According to court documents, Shane C. Collins, 34, of Warrick County, Indiana recorded a video of himself sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl on March 7, 2021.
Collins took additional sexually explicit pictures of the child later in March 2021 and saved the recordings using an internet cloud-based storage application.
“Every child deserves to grow up safe, loved, and free from sexual abuse. Sexual predators like this defendant inflict lifelong trauma on vulnerable victims to satisfy their own criminal lusts,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Every day he is in federal prison is another day we can be certain he will not harm a child. I commend the work of the FBI and the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office for ensuring that the public and the victim are protected from any further abuses by this dangerous pedophile."
In addition to the 25 year sentence, it was ordered that Collins be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for life following his release from federal prison. Collins must also register as a sex offender wherever he lives, works, or goes to school, as required by law.
“No amount of time in federal prison seems adequate for those who sexually exploit children, but this sentence clearly demonstrates the commitment of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to identify these predators and ensure they can never victimize innocent children again,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge, Herbert J Stapleton.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc [justice.gov]
