Former sheriff’s deputy gets five years for what was on laptop
FRESNO — A former Kern County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to nearly five years in prison Thursday, following a July guilty plea to one count of possessing child pornography.
The Bakersfield Police Department and FBI began looking into Michael Lynn Leyder, 27, of Bakerfield, in May 2008, when Leyder’s then-girlfriend discovered images of child pornography on his laptop computer, said Assistant United States Attorney David Gappa, who prosecuted the case.
A forensic examination of the computer revealed that Leyder, a deputy sheriff at the time, had downloaded at least two video files of child pornography, at least one of which contained images of violent or sadistic conduct involving a child under the age of 12. Many other file titles associated with child pornography were also recovered, although the files themselves had been deleted.
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Leyder to four years and nine months in prison. A 15-year term of supervised release will follow the prison term during which his access to minors, computers and the Internet will be restricted.
