An Eaton Rapids man caught in Battle Creek with child pornography was sentenced Thursday to federal prison.
Benjamin J. Knight, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to 17½ years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.
He also was fined $5,000 and must register as a sexual offender when he is released from prison.
Knight pleaded guilty to distribution and attempted distribution of child pornography.
Knight was arrested in Battle Creek after police said he was showing another man a video of child pornography on his phone while he was at Romantix, an adult products store.
As part of the investigation police seized his phone and later his computers after obtaining a search warrant for his home in Eaton County.
At the time, Major Jim Grafton of the Battle Creek Police Department said, "It is one of the most gruesome child porn cases I have seen. There are some disturbing images of some very young children doing bad things."
Grafton said bestiality and other sex acts were depicted and that detectives "had to shut it off and walk away."
Eight charges were issued against Knight in Calhoun County but later the U.S. Attorney took the case and Knight was indicted in federal court. He faced a lesser maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted in state court.
In documents filed by the U.S. Attorney before Knight was sentenced, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Lewis said the material Knight possessed featured infants and toddlers and many of the images and videos included "brutal sexual assaults on and sexual abuse of helpless and extremely vulnerable children."
Lewis said Knight wrote to others "about how he took pleasure in the suffering of children. The defendant further wrote that he had himself sexually abused children and wanted to do so again in the future."
Lewis wrote that Knight had offered to pay the parent of an 18-month old child "if the parent would allow him to rape the child and he bragged that he has successfully paid someone to abuse their child in the past."
Prosecutors said they seized material from Knight showing rapes of prepubescent children.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2016/01/07/battle-creek-child-pornography/78424464/