Newport News, Va.- A 21-year-old Virginia Beach man was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography.
Michael John Baigert Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court in October to four charges of production of child pornography.
In October 2013, Baigert was arrested for the rape of a 14-year-old girl in York County. Court documents reveal that Baigert acknowledged that he traveled from Virginia Beach to York County in August 2013 to visit the girl, whom he met on a social networking app called “KIK.” Baigert and the girl entered a wooded area near her home where Baigert committed several sexual acts on the girl.
The victim reported to the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office that she had been sexually assaulted.
After his arrest, Baigert admitted to engaging in sex acts with the girl. Further investigation revealed that there were three other victims, all under 16, with whom Baigert engaged in sexual activity.
The statement of facts says that in each instance, Baigert asked the victim if he could record their sexual activity and was told “no” each time. Baigert disputes that he asked any of the victims if he could record the activity.
Numerous homemade videos depicting young girls engaged in sexually explicit conduct were found on electronic devices recovered from Baigert’s home.
Baigert was sentenced to 240 months in prison for each count, but will serve the sentences concurrently for a total of 20 years in prison. His sentence will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
He was also ordered to pay the original victim restitution in the amount of $2,031.36.
Before his sentencing, Baigert wrote the judge a letter in hopes to receive a lighter sentence.
In the first line, he wrote that he apologized to the victims and and their families.
He went onto write, "I never realized how serious any of this was," until he spoke with a sex offender therapist.
Then, he gave his reason for why he had sex with the teenage girls.
"I pursued females a couple of years younger than me because they were easier for me to talk to." He went on to say he thought his older age impressed the girls.
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