Branch County man sentenced

A Branch County man was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison for his role in the sexual abuse of a 9-year-old girl.

Peter Casey, 30, was sentenced recently, along with 37-year-old Shannon Moore of Kalamazoo. Casey was sentenced on six different offenses.

The case began in March 2019 when the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children followed up on a tip that the two were using Facebook messenger to send child pornography.

Casey, who had been living in Bronson since 2017, was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He also was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse on a child, possession of sexually abusive material involving a child, using a computer to commit a crime and using the internet to communicate a crime with another.

Meanwhile, Moore pleaded guilty to first-degree CSC and was sentenced to 20 to 35 years in March 2020. She also pleaded guilty to using a computer to commit a crime and production of child sexually abusive material. She received sentences of four to 20 years for those offenses.