An Oro Valley man who was a Tucson teacher and youth soccer coach at a south-side charter school was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for child pornography by a federal judge Tuesday.
Ryan Bono, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James A. Soto to 87 months in prison, according to a news release.
Bono previously pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of knowing access of child pornography.
After prison, Bono will be followed by lifetime supervised release, with stringent sex offender conditions, including registering as a sex offender.
Bono was a language arts teacher at Math and Science Success Academy and a soccer coach. He was arrested in 2017 by special agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.
The investigation was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
Federal investigators found that Bono had been distributing sexually explicit images of children online using file-sharing software. A search of Bono's home computers and media storage devices revealed that he had downloaded hundreds of images and videos depicting sexual abuse of pre-pubescent children, authorities said.
According to a criminal complaint, Bono downloaded and shared child pornography with an undercover federal agent, including a video file depicting boys, purportedly as young as 9 years old, engaged in sexually explicit activity.
After Bono's arrest, investigators said evidence did not indicate any of the youths Bono taught or coached were victims.
