Tupelo Man Heading To Prison On Porn Charge

JACKSON— Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that a Lee County man is going to prison for possessing child pornography.

Austin Long, 64, appeared Monday before Lee County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Gardner and entered an open plea to a bill of information of one count of child exploitation. An open plea means the defendant refuses to accept the state’s recommendation and instead throws himself or herself at the mercy of the court. As a result, Judge Gardner sentenced Long to 20 years in prison with 17 of those years suspended, leaving three years to serve, followed by five years of post-release supervision. Long was ordered to pay $1,000 to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund, $100 to the Mississippi Crime Victim Compensation Fund and a $1,000 fine. Additionally, Long must register as a sex offender.

Long was arrested last December at his home by investigators with the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit with assistance of the Tupelo Police Department. It was discovered through an investigation that Long was using the internet to communicate via chat rooms and emails with other child predators to receive sexually explicit images and videos of children under 12.

“This case originally started as a cyber tip that was sent to our office following the result of an investigation in a different case worked by an affiliate of the Montana Internet Crimes Against Children task force,” Attorney General Jim Hood said. “We appreciate the dedication and hard work of the Tupelo Police Department and we thank Judge Gardner for giving this defendant time to serve behind bars to think about his perverted acts he committed against our children.”

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Brandon Ogburn of the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit.