United States v. Starko, No. 13-1217 (7th Cir. 2013)
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Starko pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a). He had produced videos of a five-year-old girl. Starko was a friend of the girl’s mother and was living in their home. Investigation revealed that he had also touched the genitals of the child’s seven-year-old sister and his own daughter. A psychiatrist concluded that Starko was competent, but noted “a diagnosis of major depressive episode, recurrent, polysubstance dependence in a controlled environment, and schizotypal personality disorder.” The presentence report calculated a guidelines range as 360 months. Rejecting defense counsel’s argument that: “you can sentence him to 20 years, and that punishes the man for the deed, but it also takes into account the fact that at least part of this is explained by his history, characteristics, and mental illness.” The Seventh Circuit affirmed the 360-month sentence.
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