A 52-year-old man from Sandy Hook, Kentucky, has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for attempted production of child pornography and committing a felony offense involving a minor as a registered sex offender. Matthew Nelson received his sentence from Chief U.S. District Judge David Bunning on Monday.
Nelson's plea agreement states that, in November 2023, law enforcement learned Nelson, a registered sex offender, was engaging in sexual conversations with minors online. During questioning, Nelson admitted to driving to a minor victim’s home and giving her vape products to solicit sexual activity. He also attempted to persuade the victim to send him sexually explicit images over the internet.
Previously convicted in Alaska for third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, Nelson was required to register as a sex offender. By federal law, he must serve 85% of his prison sentence. After his release, he will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 15 years.
The sentence was announced by Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge for the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Sheriff Jamie Reihs of the Boyd County Sheriff’s Office; and Sheriff Ray Craft of the Elliot County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation was a joint effort by HSI, the Boyd County Sheriff’s Office, and the Elliot County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project unites federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet and to identify and rescue victims. More information can be found at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
