Robert Peterson

A Hawthorne man was sentenced to multiple life sentences, a press release from the Mineral County District Attorney stated. Robert Peterson was sentenced for crimes involving producing child pornography and luring a minor child, Mineral County District Attorney Sean Rowe announced.

Eleventh District Court Judge Jim C. Shirley sentenced the 37 year old Peterson on Wednesday, Feb. 15 on four counts of producing child pornography and one count of luring a minor with the use of a computer.

The release stated that Peterson was sentenced to “four terms of life in prison with a minimum term of five years on each pornography charge. For the luring a minor, Peterson was sentenced to ten year term and ordered to serve a minimum of four years.”

The judge ordered that the sentence was to be served consecutively.

The press release stated that information was gathered through an investigation by the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office regarding Peterson over a period of nearly two years, showed that he had been secretly been filming the juveniles by placing a camera in the bathroom of his home.

“The investigators recovered numerous files from Peterson’s computer depicting child pornography produced in these similar methods. Further investigation also showed that between June of 2015 and November of 2015, Peterson used social networks to lure a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct.”

The charges against Peterson were filed in this case following a months-long investigation by the Mineral County Sheriff’s Department and the Mineral County Sheriff’s Investigator who is funded through the Violence Against Women Act STOP grant.

Forensics for the computer was provided through the Washoe Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab and a consultation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

District Attorney Rowe stated after the hearing, “We are pleased with the Judge’s sentencing in this case. It gives Peterson’s victims justice, and their families’ closure.”

Peterson is now in the custody of Nevada Department of Prisons.