A Sutton man who for decades worked as a magician for children across New England was sentenced to more than six years in prison after being accused of child exploitation.

The case began in early 2022 when police received information from Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), a Cambodian organization dedicated to preventing child abuse and exploitation. APLE told federal authorities that Scott Jameson, 47, had engaged in inappropriate behavior with minors while in Cambodia, federal prosecutors said.

In August of 2022, Jameson made the trip again. Upon his return, he was stopped at Logan Airport. A search of his belongings revealed a video showing the genitals of a 7-year-old Cambodian boy, according to the office of Acting United States Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy. 

Jameson admitted to taking the video and transferring it to his hard drive. His computer also showed that Jameson had viewed images of child exploitation material, Levy’s office said.

“Scott Jameson thought that by traveling overseas to Cambodia in order to sexually exploit children, he could get away with it. He was wrong,” said Levy said in a statement Thursday. 

According to APLE, Jameson would provide gifts to children and their families while in Cambodia. Some of the children reported he would sleep in a pagoda with them. 

He was arrested in October of last year and entered a guilty plea for one count of illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and one count of transportation of child pornography in November.

In addition to a 78 month sentence, Jameson was ordered to pay a fine of $20,000. His sentence also includes five years of supervised release. 

“Child sexual exploitation is abhorrent anywhere it occurs, and the FBI will continue to go after Americans who travel abroad for that purpose,” Jodi Cohen, special agent for the FBI’s Boston division said in a statement.