Pittsburgh man sentenced to 5 years on child sexual exploitation charges

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A man accused of distributing videos and photos showing the sexual exploitation of children will spend 5 years in prison. 

Shawn O'Brien from the South Side was sentenced to time in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release on his conviction of distributing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday. 

O'Brien is accused of sending images and videos of child pornography to people over the messenger app Kik. 

The FBI seized several electronic devices from O'Brien's home and found more than 1,200 images and 23 videos with explicit photos of children, many under the age of 12, prosecutors said. 

O'Brien's case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.