Related Federal Cases
Harrison Man Sentenced to 55 Years for Child Porn and Abuse
Aaron Micheal Ricketts, a 32-year-old man from Harrison, Arkansas, has been sentenced to 55 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole for sexually exploiting and producing child pornography involving a 5-year-old girl.
According to court documents, the abuse began when the girl was just four years old, and Ricketts had been taking nude pictures of her. The girl disclosed the abuse to her mother in July 2023, and a subsequent forensic examination of Ricketts’ cellular phone revealed multiple sexually explicit images and videos documenting the abuse.
The investigation was conducted by the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, the Harrison Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Still prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
Ricketts was arrested and charged with two counts of sexually exploiting a minor via the production of child pornography. At sentencing, the United States presented evidence that Ricketts had also distributed images of the minor on the internet and solicited images from other purported minors in exchange.
U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement, stating that the sentence is a result of the efforts of law enforcement agencies to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Key Facts
- State: Arkansas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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