Justin Castro of Knoxville was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday afternoon in Marion County District Court for felony sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Castro was arrested on October 10th, when a Knoxville Police Sergeant returned a call to a female in reference to a possible sexual assault. The caller reported that she was approached by Castro via Snapchat. Castro allegedly offered to pay the female $100 for a video call, and during the video call, he began speaking about and sending videos of sexual acts he allegedly had performed on minors. The female sent the videos to Law Enforcement, who verified they were authentic.

In January of 2024, Castro pled guilty to two counts of third degree sexual abuse and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a minor, which are all Class C Felonies. Each sex abuse charge carries a ten year sentence and the sexual exploitation charge carries a five year sentence. The judge ordered Castro to serve the two sexual abuse charges consecutively and the sexual exploitation charge concurrently for a total of 20 years in prison. The State asked for all sentences to be served consecutively, but Marion County Attorney Jared Harmon was still in agreement with the sentence handed down Thursday and said Castro’s actions can’t be tolerated.

“Harming children in our community can’t be tolerated, and the acts that Mr. Castro committed to bring himself to the courtroom today, it’s hard to describe them in any way other than disgusting. Mr. Castro faced justice today and he will have a lengthy prison sentence to think about what he did.”

Upon release, Castro will be required to register as a sex offender and he will be required to complete a sex offender treatment program while incarcerated.