Air Force colonel sentenced to 5 years in child porn case

A U.S. Air Force colonel was sentenced to five years Friday after previously pleading guilty to receiving child pornography.

Col. Mark Visconi, 48, received his sentencing after downloading pornographic media of girls and using his phone’s camera to take hundreds of photos of girls’ clothed behinds and up their skirts. He was also sentenced to 15 years of supervised release by Reagan-appointed U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, according to documents entered in the online record Monday. 

Visconi was next in line to take control of the 11th Air Wing that is the host command of Joint Base Andrews, where Air Force One is kept, USA Today reported.

The rising colonel, who was chief of the Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Task Force at the Pentagon, used a router to go unidentified as he scrolled through pornographic media on the dark web, the news outlet reported. 

“The defendant downloaded and viewed videos that were inherently sadistic,” federal prosecutors said in a filing requesting an eight-year prison sentence for Visconi, according to USA Today. They argue he should be held to a higher standard because of his position.

Visconi’s relatives submitted letters to the judge requesting a lesser sentence, including one citing Visconi being sexually abused as a child and his military career stopping him from obtaining counseling. His former wife asked for leniency to allow Visconi to help take care of their children, according to the newspaper.

The colonel’s legal team declined to comment to The Hill.

The Air Force will remove Visconi from the service after his sentencing, with spokeswoman Ann Stefanek telling USA Today that “If approved, this will result in the loss of Col. Visconi’s ability to apply for retirement or to receive any other benefit afforded for honorable service.”

–This report was updated at 12:33 p.m.