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OXFORD – Stephen Richard Lightman, 34, of Olive Branch, Mississippi, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Neal B. Biggers, Jr., in Oxford, Mississippi on December 12, 2016, to serve 360 months in prison for production of child pornography, and 240 months in prison for distribution of child pornography. Lightman will serve the two sentences consecutively, totaling 50 years in prison.
Lightman will also serve a lifetime of supervised release following his incarceration and was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to victims of his offense. Lightman was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service to await designation by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
U.S. Attorney Felicia C. Adams of the Northern District of Mississippi, Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze of the FBI’s Jackson, Mississippi Division, and Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood made the announcement.
“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi is committed to the protection of our children and we will vigorously prosecute those predators who seek to exploit and abuse them. Our office appreciates the hard work of all the federal, state, and local agencies that participated in this investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Adams.
“Criminals who produce and distribute child pornography violate the rights of our society’s most precious asset,” said Christopher Freeze, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi. “This case and sentence should send a strong message to those who participate in these nefarious activities that law enforcement in Mississippi is committed to seeking out, investigating and prosecuting those who prey on children.”
“After working with other AGs for the past 14 years and as a DA and assistant AG for 13 years prior to that, I have learned that law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels in Mississippi cooperate better than the vast majority in other states,” Attorney General Jim Hood said. “We all make the best of the law enforcement assets we have. Our cooperative model in the investigation, arrest and prosecution of this child pornographer is a prime example. There is no U. S. Attorney’s Office in America any better on child exploitation prosecutions than our Northern District Office.”
On June 14, 2016, a federal grand jury returned a four count indictment charging Lightman with two counts of production of child pornography; one count of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography. On August 1, 2016, Lightman pled guilty to Counts One and Four of the indictment, production of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.
The FBI Jackson Division’s Child Exploitation Task Force conducted the investigation, with assistance from the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department. The task force is composed of agents from the FBI and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and prosecutors from the United States Attorney’s Offices in Oxford and Jackson.
