Clearwater man gets maximum sentence for trading child pornography
A Clearwater man has been sentenced to two decades in prison for using social media to trade child pornography.
Benjamin Charles Fisher, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography. On Thursday, he received the maximum sentence from a federal judge.
The charge stemmed from a Jan. 14, 2025 interaction between Fisher and another person on Kik, a social media messaging platform. According to court documents, Fisher used Kik to send a video of a minor engaging in sexual acts with an adult male.
“That video was part of a chat conversation with another user wherein the Defendant asked ‘Trade?’ and indicated his preference for 12-15 year olds,” court documents read.
Fisher had multiple alias accounts on Kik and used them while at home and at his workplace, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.
In addition to the prison sentence, Fisher was ordered to pay $30,500 in restitution.
