Stockbridge man sentenced to decades for transporting porn, sexually exploiting children

DETROIT — A Stockbridge man has been sentenced to two decades in federal prison for sexually exploiting children and transporting child pornography, officials said.

John Michael Garron, 40, pleaded guilty to both crimes last year and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Lawson on Wednesday, court records indicate. The U.S. Attorney's Office said he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

"Garron's conviction stems from his years-long sexual exploitation of a minor girl under his care," U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a news release. "Garron took sexually explicit images and videos of the girl and recorded himself masturbating over her while she slept."

Ison said Garron bragged about his abuse of the girl online. He didn't realize one of the people he was communicating with was an undercover FBI agent, she said.

Agents found evidence of the abuse on his devices following a search, along with more than 28,000 images of child pornography he had shared online, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

According to a grand jury indictment filed in June, Garron had addresses in South Lyon, Stockbridge and Howell. But in its news release, the U.S. Attorney's Office identified him as a Stockbridge man.

Defense attorney Michael Komorn said in a sentencing memorandum that Garron was a 2001 South Lyon High School grad who had a spotless criminal and worked full time for "a reputable software company" before his arrest. The onset of criminal behavior was linked to mental health issues, the lawyer said.

Komorn suggested that "non-incarceration" with "heightened supervision" would have been appropriate "so that Mr. Garron truly may receive the help he needs."

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Stockbridge man sentenced for distributing porn, sexually exploiting children