Somersworth man gets 25 years for producing child porn

Matthew Felton (Police mugshot)

CONCORD - A Somersworth man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison followed by lifetime of supervised release for production of child pornography, according to a statement from the U.S. attorneys office in Concord today.

Matthew Felton, 38, used several social media accounts to disguise his identity, pose as a female representative of a modeling agency, and solicit sexually explicit photographs of young girls purportedly to help them secure modeling contracts, according to court records and testimony.

Specifically, he persuaded three girls, ages 12 through 14 who were all located in Canada, to photograph themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The girls sent the photographs to the defendant over the Internet.

Felton pleaded guilty in January.

"The defendant's conduct here justified this long prison sentence," said U.S. Attorney Scott W. Murray. "On-line predators such as this defendant cause substantial harm to their young victims and must be incarcerated in order to protect the public. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those who use the Internet to victimize children in order to produce and distribute child pornography."

In February 2006, the Department of Justice introduced Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.