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Sex Offender Gets 21 Years, 10 Months In Prison

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TBO.com

Published: October 3, 2008

TAMPA - Dale Lee Hitchings, who was indicted on charges of possessing and distributing child pornography, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Following that, he will have a lifetime of supervised release.

Investigators went to search the home of Hitchings, 46, a registered sex offender, for evidence of Internet child pornography Aug. 9. They found him naked at his computer, according to a federal complaint.

In the apartment on South MacDill Avenue agents saw numerous toys and games for small children, the complaint says. It says that inside the freezer was a chocolate penis.

Authorities found more than 300 images of child pornography on the man's computer, according to U.S. Attorney's Office.

Hitchings was indicted Tuesday on a federal charge of possessing and distributing child pornography.

At the time of the Aug. 9 search, Hitchings was on probation for failing to register as a sex offender, the federal complaint states. He was convicted of that charge in July. The complaint says Hitchings was convicted in 1988 of lewd and lascivious conduct toward a child under 16.

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