U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday told graduates of the northern Indiana Catholic boarding school he graduated from 40 years ago that persistence is the most essential quality to success and is the only trait each personINDIANAPOLIS – A Maryland man who helped run an online bulletin board where hundreds of child pornographers from around the world shared images and videos was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison following a trial in Indiana.
Roger Loughry Sr., 57, of Baltimore received the punishment for advertising and distributing child pornography and for conspiring to do so, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement. Loughry was convicted on all charges after a four-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Federal prosecutors said Loughry was a co-administrator of the site known as the Cache and one of the international online ring’s five top-ranking members.
His conviction stemmed from a two-year international investigation called Operation Nest Egg. The group’s alleged ringleader, Delwyn Savigar, is serving a 14-year prison term in England for sexually assaulting or trying to abuse three underage girls.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota said the case is still believed to be the largest child pornography conspiracy ever prosecuted, though similar rings have since been uncovered.
The password-protected Cache website had 1,000 members at its peak and numbered more than 500 when it was shut down in 2008. Members were granted access to the hierarchical group’s website by invitation only and had to be vetted by senior members.
Authorities arrested more than 50 suspects in the United States, including more than 20 who were charged in Indiana. DeBrota said all of the suspects who were indicted in Indianapolis have since been convicted.
Loughry was found guilty of the same charges in 2010, but his conviction was overturned on appeal because evidence that wasn’t used on the website was admitted, DeBrota said.
Loughry said he plans to appeal again.
