Former Air Force airman Bryce Carter Studebaker, 25, of Moncks Corner, S.C., was sentenced Thursday, July 28, 2022, to 15 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release. (Pixabay)

A former Air Force airman was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release.

Bryce Carter Studebaker, 25, of Moncks Corner, S.C., pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in South Carolina.

U.S. District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks also ordered Studebaker to register as a sex offender and remain under lifetime court supervision after his release, according to court documents.

There is no parole in the federal system.

Studebaker was an airman stationed at Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., in 2018 when he began messaging a 14-year-old girl living in Tennessee through Facebook, the news release said.

“During the messaging, Studebaker persuaded the minor to produce videos and images of herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and to send the videos and images to Studebaker,” the DOJ said. “Authorities discovered the conduct after responding to a call from the minor’s mother who said her daughter had been communicating with an online predator.”

A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Studebaker on March 18, 2019, and the airman was subsequently charged with four counts of producing and attempting to produce child porn and four counts of receiving child porn.

Studebaker pleaded not guilty to the eight counts but changed his plea on July 22 to guilty on one count.