An Erie man is sentenced to three years in jail for sexual exploitation of a child.

42-year-old Peter Hawkinson was sentenced earlier this week to serve 36 months of community corrections on the charge after he entered a plea of “no contest” in April. Hawkinson agreed to enter the plea to one count of exploitation in exchange for an additional 23 charges to be dropped.

Hawkinson was arrested in July of last year at his home in rural Neosho County. The Neosho County Sheriff's Office along with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation served a search warrant on Hawkinson's residence following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The charges stemmed from incidents that occurred in March 2025.