BENTON – A Benton man has been sentenced to a total of 28 years in prison after entering a guilty plea Wednesday in Franklin County Court to five counts of child pornography – a Class 2 felony – and one count of sexual conduct with an animal – a Class 4 felony.

According to Franklin County State’s Attorney Abby Dinn, on Sept. 7 of last year, an investigator with the Office of the Attorney General High Tech Crimes Bureau began an investigation into several cybertips received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding apparent child pornography being uploaded to the Cloud.

The investigation led the special agent to Austin W. Lee’s home in Benton, where a search of his home and electronic devices was done.

Lee admitted to investigators during an interview that he possessed, downloaded, and uploaded numerous pictures and videos of child pornography. In addition to the child pornography, a search of Lee’s phone also revealed photographs and disturbing videos of Lee having sexual conduct with a neighborhood dog.

Lee entered pleas of guilty to five of 15 counts. He was sentenced to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on each count of child pornography and three years on the count involving the dog, to be served consecutively, for a total of 28 years.