A Franklin man was sentenced today on charges that he downloaded and stored images of child pornography onto a hard drive at his home.

U.S. District Judge Richard T. Haik handed down a 78-month sentence to 37-year-old Tommie Joseph Beason, who will also serve five years of supervised release.

According to evidence presented at Beason's Oct. 27, 2014 arraignment, an investigation began after officials detected he was downloading child pornography at his residence. On June 3, 2014, investigators searched his home and found 230 images and 88 videos of hardcore child pornography on an external hard drive including prepubescent child pornography with very young children and sadistic material.

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.

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