A Steinhatchee man who victimized children at the same church where he served as deacon was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on child pornography charges.

Jonathan High, 31, was found guilty during a bench trial in October on two counts of use of a child to produce child pornography; before that, he pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor sentenced him Monday during a proceeding in federal court in Tallahassee.

The investigation into High began in August 2021 with a "cybertip" from the National Center for Mission and Exploited Children linking High to a cloud user who had uploaded child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida said in a news release. A search of his cellphones and computer found multiple files of child pornography involving prepubescent boys.

“Further investigation revealed that some of these images and videos were produced by High personally,” federal prosecutors said. “High produced separate video recordings of two young boys using the restroom in a Perry, Florida church where High served as deacon.”

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Winsor also sentenced High to a lifetime of supervised release when his prison term ends. The judge also ordered restitution to provide counseling to victims in the case.

“Child predators seek to prey upon our children in any setting imaginable — in this instance from inside a house of worship,” said U.S. Attorney Coody. “As such, we must remain vigilant. This sentence is yet another example of the unwavering commitment to the protection of our most vulnerable and should serve as a significant deterrent to those who would attempt to harm them.”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: North Florida church deacon sentenced in child pornography case