A decorated Air Force officer was sentenced Friday to five years in prison on child pornography charges.
Mark Visconi, 48, of Fairfax, is a colonel in the Air Force and a pilot who has won the Bronze Star and numerous other awards.
He pleaded guilty in October to receipt of child pornography. Prosecutors say he downloaded numerous images of preteen girls from the Internet and also took hundreds of images on his own phone focused on the clothed buttocks of minor girls.
The five-year sentence imposed Friday in federal court in Alexandria by Judge T.S. Ellis III is less than the 10-year sentence sought by prosecutors.
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In addition to the prison time, Visconi was sentenced to 15 years supervised release, 50 hours community service and ordered to pay restitution to one victim.