ROANOKE, Va. – A former Virginia Tech professor was sentenced for possession of child pornography, the United States Department of Justice announced.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ), 51-year-old Michael Horning, of Christiansburg, used peer-to-peer filesharing software to download child porn. According to court documents, Horning downloaded child porn between 2009 and 2021, sometimes using Freenet, the filesharing program. The DOJ said when his electronic devices were seized in 2021, Horning was in possession of 663 images and fourteen videos showing child pornography, as well as additional child sex abuse material.
In the child sex materials, the DOJ said 38 images and one video showed infants or toddlers and one video depicted sadomasochism.
In September 2024, Horning pled guilty to a one-count Information which charged him with knowingly possessing one or more visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and the DOJ said this included prepubescent minors and minors who have not reached 12 years old yet.
The DOJ said Horning was sentenced in January 2025 to 60 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography.
Horning was formerly a professor of communications at Virginia Tech, the DOJ said.
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