Winona Man Ryan Feine Sentenced To Nearly 40 Years For Producing Child Pornography Distributed Nationwide
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 35-year-old Winona man has been sentenced in what the U.S. Attorney's Office calls "one of the most egregious cases of child sexual abuse" that the office has prosecuted.
On Tuesday, United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said Ryan Thomas Feine was sentenced to 38 years in prison for production and attempted production of child pornography.
According to court documents and Feine's guilty plea, between Feb. 10, 2013 and September 10, 2013, Feine created multiple video recordings of his sexual abuse of a victim who was less than 1-year-old at the time. Meanwhile, he also made sexually explicit images of another victim who was about 5 years old at the time.
During an investigation, law enforcement executed a search warrant on several of Feine's electronic devices and discovered more than 1,000 images and 150 videos of child pornography.
At Tuesday's sentencing, Judge John Tunheim called Feine's criminal conduct as "certainly horrendous" and said the case was "among the worst I've ever seen."
"This is one of the most egregious cases of child sexual abuse my office has prosecuted," U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald said. "We will never shy away from difficult cases such as this, we are committed to pursuing justice for innocent children."
The National Center for Missing or Exploited Children identified Feine as the creator of a multi-part child pornography series that has been distributed throughout the country.
Feine's prison sentence will be followed by 20 years of supervised release. He's also ordered to pay restitution to each minor victim.
If you know of any child who may have been a victim of exploitation, please call the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or visit NCMEC's web site at www.missingkids.com.