LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison on one count production of child pornography that invovled an Arkansas minor.

The United States District Court Judge James M. Moody sentenced 55-year-old Craig Gillum of Shelbyville, Tennessee to 280 months in federal prison.

In January of 2018, the parents of a 16-year-old girl reported to authorities that she had been missing from her home in Trumann, Arkansas. Officers found the minor’s email and searched the account where she showed sexually explicit messages from Gillum. In some of the emails, Gillum had sent explicit photos of himself to the minor, and asked and received images of child pornography from the “little girl,” as he referred to her in the messages.

In February of 2018, authorities learned that the minor had been at a motel room in Nebraska with Gillum. Agents found the minor with her hair cut and colored. The minor told authorities Gillum had picked her up in Trumann and driven her to Nebraska.

“This defendant manipulated a child into sending explicit images and then transported her out of the state to continue his depravity,” said U.S. Attorney Hiland. “Fortunately, he will spend the next 23 years in prison, where he cannot harm another child. We will seek the same lengthy sentence for anyone who seeks to take advantage of children in our communities.”

“Mr. Gillum’s despicable crimes separated an underage girl from her family and placed her in a repugnant situation,” said FBI Little Rock Special Agent in Charge Diane Upchurch. “Our agents work every day to counter evil in our state, which is why I’m so pleased they were able to apprehend Mr. Gillum and rescue his young victim. We urge anyone with information about child sexual abuse to contact the FBI immediately!”

In December of 2018, Gillum was charged in a three-count indictment with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. Gillum pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography on August 1, 2019.

According to the news release, Gillum was also sentenced to ten years of supervised release following his imprisonment.

To see the full news release click here.