A Versailles, Kentucky man, Austin David Stafford, has been sentenced to 540 months in prison for the production of child pornography. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves and stems from two separate court cases.
In the first case, Stafford and his deceased girlfriend, Crystal Campbell, were involved in using a minor to create explicit visual content on two occasions. These incidents took place at their trailer and outdoors. Stafford's Facebook records revealed instances of him distributing these videos.
The second case emerged after law enforcement was alerted by a minor victim’s father who discovered nude photos of his child in a group message on Facebook Messenger. Investigations showed that Stafford used a fake identity, "Craig Wright," to engage the minor in an online relationship and obtained intimate details and images. He then manipulated the victim using multiple fake personas, leading to further exploitation.
Stafford also orchestrated an incident involving James Campbell, where he coerced a minor into explicit conduct with Campbell under threat from one of his fake personas. This occurred on June 10, 2022.
James Campbell is set to be sentenced on April 21, 2025.
Under federal law, Stafford must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before release. Following his release, he will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 30 years.
The sentencing was announced by Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Michael Stansbury of the FBI's Louisville Field Office; and Phillip J. Burnett Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police.
The investigation involved both the FBI and KSP with assistance from Hart Megibben and Jon Fee from the Commonwealth Attorney's office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Melton is prosecuting this case as part of Project Safe Childhood—a Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
