The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that U.S. District Court Judge William W. Caldwell sentenced Daniel Curran, 41, of York, Pennsylvania to 70 years of incarceration at a hearing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Curran pleaded guilty to producing, receiving and possessing child pornography on Dec. 4, 2014.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Caldwell stated it was one of the most disturbing cases he had ever seen, thought the maximum sentence was completely justified, noted the defendant was a danger to young people and needed to be confined for their safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith A. Taylor had recommended the maximum sentence of 840 months.

According to U.S. Attorney Peter J Smith for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the evidence established that Curran sexually assaulted a nine year old boy on multiple occasions and recorded the assaults of the child. In addition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) located over at least 40,000 images and over 100 videos of child pornography on Curran’s computer and thumb drives.

Curran was originally charged in November 2013 and signed a plea agreement in November 2014.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI and the the Northern York County Regional Police Department.