An Ohio veteran who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges was sentenced to only one day in prison after his defense claimed PTSD caused his child porn habit, court filings show. According to court filings, the FBI found over 3,600 images and over 200 videos of child porn on the devices of 41-year-old Andrew Demma in 2015. Many of the images reportedly depicted adult men raping and abusing prepubescent girls, and authorities recommended that Demma receive a sentence of 78 months. However, the court heard arguments mentioning Demma's five years of service in the Army. Three different psychologists claimed Demma's trauma while in the military caused him to view child porn. One said Demma's child porn stash was “directly resultant from experiencing the ravages of war as this impacts children,” while another claimed his use of the explicit images came from his “objectification” of children due to combat trauma.
The court ended up sentencing Demma to one day in prison, along with 10 years of supervised release and a $45,000 restitution payment to nine identified victims. The government then appealed the sentence to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which vacated the sentence and ordered Demma to be re-sentenced.
