Former University of Oregon student Aryavong Aaron Khounlavouth has been sentenced to five years for viewing and exchanging child pornography.
The 20-year-old reached a plea deal with prosecutors after pleading guilty to three counts of encouraging child sex abuse in the first degree. He was initially held on 10 separate felony charges.
Khounlavouth was an undergraduate student majoring in pre-international studies when he was arrested at his home on June 14. An agent with the Department of Homeland Security contacted Eugene police after they found out that a Canadian man had traded child pornography over Twitter to someone living in Khounlavouth’s Springfield apartment. Eugene police seized 44 items from Khounlavouth’s apartment — one of which was a hard drive stored in a refrigerator.
Later in the month, Khounlavouth admitted to downloading child pornography and saving it to a Dropbox account. He also admitted to exchanging child pornography for a number of years.
Khounlavouth has no prior criminal record. Khounlavouth’s defense lawyer said in court that her client started viewing child pornography since he was a “preteen,” and that he wants to seek help.
Khounlavouth has been ordered to serve three years of post-prison supervision following his release from prison and will register as a sex offender.