Steven Lynn Hines, 54, of White, Georgia, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Rome today to serve 7 years, 4 months in prison for collecting and trading images and videos of child sex abuse.

According to a Department of Justice press release:

Hines was initially apprehended as part of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Operation Restore Hope.

“Defendants who trade child pornography are fostering a market based upon the rape and molestation of our children," United States Attorney Sally Yates said. "Mr. Hines not only collected child porn but also contributed his images of child sex abuse so that others could grow their own collections. The emotional and physical damage to the child victims of this behavior is staggering.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court:

During its online investigation known as Operation Restore Hope, the GBI identified Hines as someone who downloaded and traded images of child sex abuse.

Agents with the GBI were able to trace images of child pornography they found on the Internet to a computer in Hines’ home in White, Georgia.

After obtaining a search warrant, the GBI seized hundreds of thousands of images of child sex abuse that Hines had collected over the years.

Many of these images he had printed out and organized in binders; others were stored on hard drives and disks.

Agents also recovered evidence showing that HINES actively traded these same images so that he could expand his collection and help others grow theirs.

He was arrested in December 2009 at a Walmart in Dawson County where he worked as an assistant manager.

Hines was indicted in February 2010; he pleaded guilty in June 2010.

United States District Court Judge Harold L. Murphy sentenced Hines to 7 years, 4 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years on supervised release.

Hines will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from custody.