SHELBYVILLE — A 54-year-old Shelbyville man has been sentenced to 200 years in federal court for what the courts are calling perverse sexual exploitation of a child.
Jeffrey Esposito pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography, according to a release sent out by the U.S. Attorney's Office of Southern Indiana.
“Esposito tortured, sexually abused, and sexually exploited children for years,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said. “Judge Magnus-Stinson’s sentence ensures that he will never come in contact with another child again.”
Esposito was indicted back in April 2018 on 20 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of child pornography. Twenty of those charges were in reference to his repeated sexual abuse of his minor victim, who was approximately 7 or 8 years old when he began torturing, abusing and exploiting them. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the abuse included bondage and torture sessions with choking, whipping and other forms of pain. He's also charged with obtaining, requesting and sharing videos of abuse and exploitation including several hundred files of children which were shared over an anonymous network and chatting platforms. The U.S. Attorney's Office says Esposito had thousands of images and videos which depicted bondage, torture and other forms of abuse of children as young as three years old.
“Let this sentence serve as a reminder that HSI is committed to standing firmly in the way of those who prey on and exploit our most vulnerable population – our children,” said Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons. “HSI, in cooperation with our law enforcement and judicial partners, will work tirelessly to identify and bring to justice individuals who commit these heinous crimes.”
Esposito will serve lifetime supervised release, according to the release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
