A former civilian Navy employee was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday on child pornography charges, the U.S. Justice Department announced.

Spencer E. Steckman, 36, pleaded guilty in June to production, transportation and possession of child pornography.

In addition to his jail time, Steckman will be under supervised release for the rest of his life and must pay $120,000 in restitution to his victims, according to the Justice Department.

Prosecutors said Steckman enticed at least 10 teenage and pre-teen boys to engage in sexual conduct, record it and send it to him.

Steckman offered the boys money and video game redemption codes while misrepresenting his identity and encouraging them to compete to send the “best photos,” a Justice Department release states.

This went on for years and continued when he moved to Japan in November 2017 and began working for Navy Region Japan, according to the department.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service detained Steckman in Japan in early 2018.

Investigators also found that Steckman had molested two pre-teen boys on several occasions, and that he gave one teen boy cash and marijuana to engage in sex acts with him.

Steckman stored his child pornography collection on an encrypted device and shared it "with like-minded offenders,” according to the Justice Department.

He was busted as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Steckman’s public defender, John Chamble, declined comment Friday.

Geoff is the editor of Navy Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.

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