A Tennessee man was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison in Federal Court on Thursday for two counts of distributing child pornography according to U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler.

33-year-old Knoxville Tennessee resident Matthew Bren Goodlett was sentenced by District Court Judge Ralph Beistline to 126 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release. Goodlett must also comply with special conditions which include participating in sex offender assessment and treatment as well as registering as a sex offender.

Goodlett sent over 3,500 images and 150 videos to an email account in Alaska in January of 2012. Images of children under the age of 12 were included in the numerous pictures sent to Alaska. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Audrey Renschen, the images and videos involved contained “material that portrays sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.”

This case was initiated as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better identify, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.