A Philadelphia man with a long history of sex offenses is headed back to federal prison for a very long time. On Thursday, 43-year-old Robert Redding was sentenced to 35 years behind bars after pleading guilty to distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography. He was also ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution and will serve 10 years of supervised release after his prison term. Court records show Redding had already spent more than a decade in prison for hands-on sexual offenses against a 13-year-old and remained a registered sex offender.
Redding was indicted in March on charges of distribution and attempted distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography and entered a guilty plea in August, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Prosecutors said he was active in an online child pornography community, trading videos that included images of babies and toddlers and uploading child sexual abuse material to online accounts. The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harrell and Eileen Castilla Geiger.
Offenses Tied To A Reentry Center
Court filings say Redding committed some of the offenses while living at a residential reentry center and used at least one electronic device that was unknown to and not authorized by his parole officer. Kintock, the nonprofit that runs Philadelphia residential reentry centers, lists locations at 301 East Erie Avenue and 600 East Luzerne Street, offering residential supervision and reentry services for people leaving custody, per Kintock.
Prosecution And Legal Consequences
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood and investigated by the FBI, with prosecutors pressing for a lengthy sentence because of the young ages of the victims and the large volume of material involved, according to the office. Redding was ordered to continue registering as a sex offender under Megan's Law and will remain under federal supervision for 10 years after his release, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
