By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A Genesee County man is facing federal child pornography charges after authorities say he created and distributed illicit material at a Deerfield Township residence.

27-year-old Austin Lash is charged with production, possession and transportation of child pornography. According to a grand jury indictment filed June 17th in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Lash used Facebook to send himself a clip of what appeared to be an infant being raped. Federal authorities were alerted after the clip was flagged by the social media company. A subsequent search of Lash's Clio residence turned up multiple electronic devices which were seized. A search of those devices then turned up approximately 4,000 images of child sexually abusive material, including a video of Lash engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a sleeping nine-year-old child. Detectives were able to determine that incident occurred at his parent’s home in Deerfield Township.

Lash was originally charged in Livingston County, but those charges were dropped last month so they could be re-filed in federal court. The maximum sentence on state charges was 25 years in prison, while the federal charges carry a term of up to 30 years. Lash remains in federal custody without bond pending a motion hearing on August 26th.