A Natrona County man pleaded guilty to a child pornography charge in federal court in Casper on Wednesday.

Gregory Scott Gage Jr. entered his plea to one count of access with intent to view child pornography before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl.

In exchange for his plea, the government agreed to dismiss one count of receipt of pornography at his sentencing scheduled for May 2.

The count of access with intent to view child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment.

According to the criminal complaint filed Aug. 19 and subsequent indictment, other penalties include five years to life supervised probation, a $5,000 special assessment pursuant to the Victims of Sex Trafficking Act of 2015, and not less than $3,000 per victim pursuant to the Amy, Vicky and Andy Child Pornography Assistance Act of 2018. The total assessment under the 2018 law could reach $52,000, according to the criminal complaint.

The to-be-dismissed count of receipt of child pornography is punishable by five years to 20 years imprisonment.

The criminal complaint noted that law enforcement in Natrona County had contacts with Gage, born in 1993, throughout 2021.

The case started in December 2021 when the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation received a lead from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center had received a lead from Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., about a phone number receiving hundreds of files of child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.

During the investigation of Gage's electronic devices, a DCI agent found numerous images including some that depicted sadomasochistic activity, and 12 files depicted child pornography with the involvement of animals, according to the complaint.

In all, 1,655 images of child pornography had been downloaded on the phone.

The government regards child pornography as a crime of violence because it involves brutal assaults on very young children who cannot give consent to sexual activity.

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