A former US soldier discharged after he suffered an injury has been sentenced to 30 years in prison without parole for the production of child pornography using his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter

Aaron Lloyd Mitchell, 25, from the city of Ashdown, Arkansas State, who committed the offence in 2018, was jailed by the United States District Court in Texarkana on Monday, 13th February.

According to court records, the FBI in Texarkana, Arkansas, got information from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in November 2018 that an individual had posted several photographs portraying the sexual abuse of a five-year-old female on the internet.

Mitchell, was identified as the person who posted the photos and as a result his home was searched by FBI officials on 21st November, 2018.

According to court filings, Michell used his iPhone 7 to videotape himself sexually assaulting the 5-year-old child while she was dressed in “Hello Kitty” and “sprinkled doughnut” underpants.

The feds said Mitchell’s genitals were apparent in photographs he shared. When faced with proof of child pornography production, Mitchell acknowledged committing crimes against both the 5-year-old and a 13-year-old female, whom he photographed as she slept. The second child, the 13- year-old, is a daughter of a friend of Mitchell’s girlfriend.

According to the court documents, “When asked why he took the pictures, he gave the same response that we see from so many immature young men, ‘I don’t know, sir.’”

He was charged with numerous counts of sexual exploitation of a child on 13th December, 2018. Mitchell pled guilty to child pornography production on 20th June, 2019.

According to court filings, Mitchell’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Matthew Hill, attempted to defend his client by portraying him as a victim of a difficult upbringing.

Hill explained that his client has dealt with bullying and weight issues and that an injury during training in the army resulted in Mitchell being medically discharged, after which his life fell apart.

According to the defence, Mitchell’s discharge from the army resulted in drug issues and unemployment, after which the defence said he turned from being a “proud soldier” to a man “profoundly humiliated and disturbed by his actions.”

U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey sentenced Mitchell to 30 years in prison, as well as 20 years of supervised release afterwards.