A Grantsville man — already serving a sentence in state prison for videotaping himself raping a baby — was given 10 more years in federal prison Wednesday on charges related to child pornography.
U.S. District Judge Dee Benson called Kenneth Roger Hardy, 50, a "risk to people close to him."
Last year Hardy was ordered by a state judge to serve 35 years in prison on charges of rape of a child, sodomy of a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child.
The victim was 15 months old at the time of the abuse and a relative in Hardy's care.
Federal prosecutor Elizabethanne Stevens told Benson that while the state judge had recommended a lengthy sentence, the Board of Pardons has some discretion to "move that date up. That's one of the reasons the federal government went forward with this case."
After the state charges surfaced, federal investigators searched Hardy's home and discovered both adult and child pornography, some purchased and some homemade.
As a result of that search, Hardy was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child, for videotaping the rape, and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to his attorney, Hardy began experimenting with pornography on the Internet before he began stockpiling videotapes and eventually videotaping himself.
Hardy pleaded guilty to the exploitation charge and, in exchange, the lesser possession charge was dismissed.
Benson ordered Hardy to serve the 10 years in federal prison after his stay in state prison was complete.
"I know this means you're likely to spend most, if not all of the rest of your life in a prison environment," the judge told Hardy, "but I cannot read the history of (your) behavior and conclude any other sentence . . . is appropriate."
Hardy apologized to the court and to his family. "I can't undo what happened, but I want a chance to make things better."
Hardy said he receives regular visits from his wife and other family members but has not received any counseling or therapy because of long waiting lists for such prison programs.
"I can only conclude that Mr. Hardy has an aberrant behavior problem," Benson said, clearly disturbed by Hardy's lack of treatment. "I don't know what it stems from."
After the sentencing, the victim's father said he was "pleased with what the judge had to say. I don't want (Hardy) back out in society."
When asked about the victim, now nearly preschool age, her mother said "she's doing very well."
E-mail: mtitze@desnews.com