NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A 43-year-old from Smyrna will spend 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of exploitation and another of distribution of child pornography, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday.
According to court records, Peter Allen Snyder created at least nine sexually explicit images of a minor victim on his cellphone on Nov. 12, 2019, depicting her from the waist down. The records state Snyder’s hand was visible in one of the images. Snyder then distributed these photographs on the internet, the DOJ said.
The images came to light in December 2021, when Yahoo submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. The tip contained at least 25 images, including nine of Snyder’s victim, which had been sent by email from a Russian-based email service with the subject header reading “Trade.”
According to the DOJ, the images of the minor victim contained GPS data confirming the images were produced at or near the vicinity of Snyder’s residence in Cannon County. The images also included data about the cellphone used to create them. When Snyder was questioned about the cellphone following his arrest, he said he had disposed of it at a recycling kiosk.
“One of our office’s highest priorities is the aggressive prosecution of crimes against children,” said Acting United State Attorney Robert E. McGuire. “We will seek to hold these criminal accountable in order to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.”
In addition to his prison sentence, Snyder will be required to register as a sex offender. Following his imprisonment, Snyder will be on supervised release for the rest of his life, according to the DOJ.
