BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –A federal judge sentenced a Huntsville man this week to 25 years in prison for sexually exploiting a 10-year-old child.

Darnell Lawson was sentenced to 25 years in prison for producing child pornography and enticing a young girl to engage in sexual activity for the purpose of creating obscene images.  Lawson pled guilty to these charges in August 2019 and is required to register as a sex offender.

“A long prison sentence is well-deserved for this defendant,” U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town said. “Lawson stole the innocence of a young girl and gave her no sanctuary of a childhood.  He will now spend the next 25 years in federal prison where there is no sanctuary of parole.”

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/pcs.

U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations along with the Huntsville Police Department investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Becher, Sr. prosecuted.