Mountain Home Man Gets 20 Plus Years on Child Porn Charges

BOISE, Idaho (KLIX)-A Mountain Home man will spend a little more than 24 years behind federal prison bars for distributing and possessing child pornography. According to Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez, Jr., 39-year-old Matthew Eric Cairns was sentenced to prison by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill who also ordered Cairns to serve ten years supervised release once he is out. Cairns will also have to pay $18,000 to the victims of his crimes. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found out that Cairns was an administrator of a social media group where child pornography was being discussed. At one point Cairns shared a link to a file that contained sexually explicit videos of very young children. FBI searched Cairns' home and found further evidence of child pornography. During the search, Cairns tried to hide his cellphone in an air conditioning vent. Investigators found more than 500 images of child pornography. An online conversation was also found of Cairns communicating with a young child along with explicit videos of that child he had asked for. Cairns will have to register as a sex offender once he is released from prison.