A concerned resident started the ball rolling on what would result in a guilty plea to child pornography charges by a 66-year-old Fresno man on Monday.
According to federal court documents, a neighbor of Gary Lee Briggs told police that it appeared Briggs was trying to lure an 8-year-old boy into his apartment in early 2020.
When officers confronted Briggs, he claimed he was testing his ability to withstand urges that attracted him to the boy. However, Briggs admitted that Facebook had terminated his account for having transmitted sexually explicit material on the platform, according to prosecutors.
In addition, Facebook notified the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that Briggs’s Facebook account had been used to transmit sexually explicit images of minors in 2019.
Related Story: Oklahoma Man Pleads Guilty in Fresno to Child Porn Distribution
Faces 15 to 40 Years in Prison
Briggs is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on Oct. 23. He faces a mandatory prison term of between 15 and 40 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa is prosecuting the case.
Related Story: Judge Calls Fresno Child Porn Producer ‘Evil,’ Sentences Him to ...
