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Published on November 09, 2024
Retired Army Medic Eric Scott McCants Sentenced to 50 Years for Sexual Exploitation of MinorsSource: Unsplash/Tyler Rutherford

Retired Army combat medic, Eric Scott McCants has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting two children. Court documents reveal that McCants, 47, had engaged in the production and dissemination of sexually explicit videos involving prepubescent children, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

FBI investigations linked McCants to a child exploitation group on a social networking app, where he shared illegal content in July 2021. Agents seized his phone, finding additional videos that confirmed his involvement and revealed a second victim from October 2018. McCants was arrested on August 13, 2021, and indicted on September 1, 2021, on four counts related to the creation, possession, and distribution of child pornography, as reported by the United States Attorney’s Office.

On August 7, Eric Scott McCants pleaded guilty to two counts of child sexual exploitation. As part of his sentencing on Wednesday, the court ordered him to pay $100,000 in restitution to the victims. U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas said, "This 50-year sentence sends a clear message that the sexual exploitation of children has lasting traumatic effects on vulnerable victims and will not be tolerated in the Western District," as mentioned by the United States Attorney’s Office.

Following the sentencing, Aaron Tapp, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s San Antonio field office, stated, "The details of this case and McCants’ exploitation of minors are horrific, and we hope this sentence will allow his victims some measure of comfort in knowing he will never be able to hurt another child." The case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson, is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative aimed at fighting child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in 2006, the initiative focuses on locating, apprehending, and prosecuting online child exploiters. For more information, the Department of Justice encourages visits to their official website, as stated by the United States Attorney’s Office.