A Winchester man will serve 20 years in federal prison for producing child pornography.
Chris Helton, 38, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Lexington by Judge Karen Caldwell.
In 2003, Helton photographed himself sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl, and then downloaded the images to his computer. An unnamed person discovered the images in 2008 and notified the authorities.
Caldwell sentenced Helton to the maximum, citing the disturbing nature of the images and the need to protect the public.
Helton must serve 85 percent, or 17 years, of his sentence before he will be released.
The FBI, Winchester Police Department and Georgetown Police Department investigated the case.
