New Zealand man gets 21 years for child pornography

By DENISE LAVOIE
AP Legal Affairs Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A New Zealand man who was shot by the mother of a teenage girl when he tried to break into their home in Virginia has been sentenced to 21 years in prison. Troy George Skinner was 24 and the girl was 13 when they met online. He pleaded guilty to using the girl to produce child pornography. When the girl broke things off, he traveled to her home and smashed a glass door trying to get inside. The girl’s mother shot him in the neck. Prosecutors dropped attempted kidnapping charges. The judge called his crimes “atrocious” and the girl’s parents said he caused them “a marathon of grief.”