Sumner Newscow report – A 62-year-old Haysville man, originally from Wellington, faces more than 17 years in federal prison after being convicted in a case that involved the sharing of child pornography from another continent.

The U.S. Department of Justice said a judge sentenced Ronald Waltrip to 210 months, 17 years, six months, for directing a man in Australia “to create child sexual abuse material and send him the images.”

Court documents show that Waltrip pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child — production of child pornography.

The Justice Department says Waltrip exchanged messages with a man in Australia on social media and that those messages show that Waltrip asked about a 6-year-old child in the other man’s custody “and directed him to engage in sexual acts with the child.

“The man complied and at Waltrip’s request, created images of the child sexual abuse,” the DOJ said. “The Australian man sent [child sexual abuse material] recordings to Waltrip.

“Waltrip and his co-conspirator may be on different continents, but they share the same evil fantasies. Waltrip’s crime is so egregious that even after he gets out of prison, he will be under the supervision of probationary officers for the rest of his life,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser.

The Justice Department said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and Wichita Police Department investigated the case, brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, “a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”