Former Scott AFB airman sentenced for distributing child porn with Kik phone app
A former airman at Scott Air Force Base has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on two federal counts of distributing child pornography, according to a news release Friday from the Fairview Heights office of U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.
The sentence for Jace Faugno, 25, of Paducah, Kentucky, includes five years of supervised release. It was handed down by Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis.
“Faugno first came to the attention of law enforcement in September 2018, when a joint undercover investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the FBI caught him sending child pornography over Kik, a popular cell phone messaging application,” the release stated.
At the time, Faugno was living in St. Louis and serving as an active duty senior airman. He worked as a firefighter at Scott Air Force Base.
“During chat discussions with two different undercover agents, Faugno sent them each a video depicting a prepubescent girl being raped by an adult male,” the release stated.
“Faugno also solicited the agents to send him videos of child pornography and expressed an interest in meeting up with one agent to engage in sex acts with the undercover agent’s fictitious prepubescent daughter. Faugno ended his contact with the agents when they refused to provide him with videos of child pornography.”
Faugno sent the video files from his place of employment, Fire Station 3, Building 3901, at Scott Air Force Base, according to court records.
Faugno pleaded guilty to the charges in 2019.
At his sentencing hearing, Faugno argued that his chats were merely a fantasy that he never intended to act upon, according to the release.
“Judge Rosenstengel observed that while only Faugno was aware of his true intentions, ‘fantasy can turn into reality,’” it stated.
The case was investigated by Air Force Office of Special Investigations and FBI based in Springfield and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hoell.