United States v. Abbring, No. 14-1987 (6th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseAbbring pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(2)(A). The district court enhanced his advisory sentencing range because he distributed the pornography using peer-to-peer file-sharing software, resulting in a 151-to-188- month advisory guidelines range. The court imposed a sentence of 132 months.. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. Over a six-year span, he had downloaded more than 450 videos and nearly 1,000 photos of child pornography through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program called Ares. Ares permits users to download and view files stored on other users’ computers in their shared folders. It does not allow users to disable the automatic-sharing feature. All it permits users to do is to move files out of the program’s shared folders once the user finishes downloading the relevant file. Users thus may not remove a file from their shared folder while they download it. Because Abbring continued sharing files while he downloaded them— allowing undercover agents to obtain portions of several videos—the district court correctly concluded that his use of Ares constituted “distribution” within the meaning of the federal sentencing guidelines, U.S.S.G. 2G2.2(b)(3). The court correctly denied a two-level reduction under 2G2.2(b)(1) for conduct “limited to . . . receipt or solicitation.”
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.