A Fresno man received a life sentence for child pornography convictions on Friday, with a federal judge saying that what the offender did to children was “evil.”

“I don’t know how else to say it,” Judge André Birotte Jr. told John Richard Brinson Jr., 28, during his sentencing hearing in a Los Angeles courtroom.

Brinson pleaded guilty in July 2021 to one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise and four counts of production of child pornography, each representing a different victim.

In total, Brinson and his co-conspirators pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting more than 20 children under the age of 9, including 10 children 4 years old or younger.

Hosted Child Porn Site on Dark Web

According to court documents, in 2016 and 2017, Brinson distributed and advertised child exploitation materials on a website dedicated to the sexual abuse of children.

Brinson — along with co-defendants Arlan Harrell, of Hawthorne, and Moises Martinez, of San Jose — was an active member of this website, which was hosted on Tor, a computer network on the dark web that is specifically designed to facilitate anonymous communications.

Additionally, Brinson used this website to meet like-minded offenders, including Harrell and Martinez, and commit additional offenses against children with them in person. Harrell and Martinez each separately brought children to Brinson’s home that they abused together while shooting child pornography videos.

“The life sentence imposed in this case is warranted by the defendant’s callous and violent abuse of children, some of whom were filmed while screaming in pain,” U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said in a statement. “The child exploitation enterprise impacted more than 20 victims — children who were sexually assaulted, sometimes repeatedly, solely for the pleasure of this defendant and his cohorts.”

Long Sentences for co-Conspirators

Harrell was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year and Martinez received 55 years in prison.

Brinson’s roommate, Keith Lawniczak, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a child. He let Brinson live in the house for free and admitted that he benefited by being able to watch the sexual abuse, according to court documents.

Homeland Security Investigations’ Los Angeles office, along with HSI’s Fresno and Boston offices, investigated the case. The High Technology Investigative Unit of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section provided assistance.