A former Twentynine Palms Marine was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography. In March 2017, Homeland
Security investigators determined that a computer belonging to Matthew Benton, 36, who was then living in Jacksonville, North Carolina, had
distributed a video of a prepubescent girl being raped by a man through an on-line peer-to- peer file share network. Investigators served a search
warrant on Benton’s home, and Benton admitted to downloading child pornography and sharing videos and photos through the peer-to-peer network.
Investigators found more than 7,600 child pornography and erotica on his computer, with some children as young as 3 years old. He denied doing anything to his children, and said he only shared the child pornography after he moved from Twentynine Palms in 2017 to North Carolina. However, he admitted that while he lived in Twentynine Palms, he had a hidden camera installed in his home’s bathroom which he used to watch his wife and other female visitors, and he saved videos of partially nude children in the bathroom to his computer. Matthew Benton pleaded guilty January 4, 2018.
Following his 10-year prison sentence, he will be on five year probation.
