Columbia man sentenced to 15 years for producing child pornography

A Columbia man was sentenced in federal court on Thursday for producing and possessing child pornography.

Justin Hull, 33, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole.

Hull admitted that he used a child victim to produce child pornography in December 2015. He also admitted that he was in possession of child pornography from December 2014 to December 2015.

Law enforcement officers were notified of Hull in 2015, when there was a complaint from Dropbox. Hull was accused of uploading approximately 71 videos believed to contain child pornography to his Dropbox account.

Investigators determined that Hull had uploaded approximately 390 child pornographic videos.

In December 2015, officers seized Hull’s cell phone and found the Kik application installed on his phone. Numerous chats with a sexual nature were discovered. One chat showed that Hull was bragging he had 400 child pornography videos.

Officers also found a conversation between Hull and a 16-year-old where Hull requested and received pornographic images.

A total of 478 images depicting child pornography were found on Hull’s cell phone.

Court documents also say Hull had previously had sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl.