Venice man found guilty of child porn crimes

A federal jury found David Paul Lynch guilty of numerous child pornography charges on Monday.

Lynch, 56, was found guilty of eight counts of producing and attempting to produce child pornography, two counts of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

Between 2005 and 2016, prosecutors said the 56-year-old man often traveled to the Philippines for sex with underage kids between 2005 and 2016. He also prepared for his trips by communicating online to search for children to sexually exploit.

Lynch reportedly created pornographic content with at least three of the Filipino children he encountered. He also solicited child pornography through email.

He was arrested December 2016 in San Francisco as he attempted to board a plane headed to the Philippines. FBI officials who searched his Venice home found “dozens of self-produced images and videos of child abuse from his trips.”

Lynch’s sentencing is set for Jan. 11. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer L. Peresie and Eric K. Gerard.

As part of the investigation, the Bradenton Police Department and the Sarasota Police Department worked alongside other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to “combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Venice man found guilty of child porn crimes."