A 65-year-old Wilmington man has received a lengthy prison sentence for child pornography offenses, the first criminal sentencing under the new “partial nudity” law.
Sheldon Lee was sentenced to 20 years in prison following convictions of 25 counts of Dealing in Child Pornography and 25 counts of Sex Offender Unlawful Sexual Conduct Against a Child. Lee’s sentence includes a suspended 325-year prison sentence, which can trigger should he violate the terms of his sentence.
“These cases are difficult to talk about, but we must confront them. Our kids’ safety is non-negotiable,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings.
The sentencing came as the result of an updated statute, sponsored by former Rep. Valerie Longhurst and Sen. Nicole Poore and passed unanimously in 2022, that closed a “partial nudity” loophole in Delaware’s child sexual abuse material (CSAM) laws. Under the prior law, possession of non-nude images of children was not a prosecutable offense.
In August 2022, the Delaware Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) was notified that Lee, a Tier II Sex Offender, was found to be uploading child erotica to his Dropbox account. At the time, Lee was on Level III probation for prior Dealing in Child Pornography convictions. When arrested on February 23, 2023, Lee had more than 114,600 images of CSAM. As a result of these convictions, Lee must now register as a Tier III sex offender.
