A Lawrenceburg, Kentucky man, Zachary Gage King, aged 24, has been sentenced to over 12 years in prison for receiving child pornography. U.S. District Judge Gregory VanTatenhove handed down the sentence on Monday.
King's plea agreement revealed that law enforcement was tipped off about his attempts to access child pornography. A search warrant executed at his residence led to King's admission of using various online platforms for receiving and distributing such material. Authorities discovered more than 7,400 images and videos involving minors in sexually explicit conduct on his electronic devices.
Federal law mandates that King serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. Following his release, he will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for four decades.
The sentencing announcement was made jointly by Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Phillip J. Burnett Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police; and Sheriff Mike Coyle from Madison County Sheriff's Office.
The investigation involved HSI, the Kentucky State Police (KSP), and the Madison County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is handling the prosecution.
This case falls under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative started in 2006 aimed at tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse through coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local agencies.
