LEXINGTON MAN SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY HOARD

A Lexington man has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for possessing and receiving thousands of images and videos of child pornography.

Matthew Ryan Mullins, 29, of Lexington, was sentenced to 168 months in prison, equivalent to 14 years, for receiving and possessing child pornography, announced the Department of Justice USAO for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

According to his plea agreement, law enforcement identified Mullins during an investigation into online groups involving the receipt and distribution of child pornography on June 21, 2022. Mullins admitted to exchanging large amounts of child sexual abuse material with others across the world using various online platforms.

During the investigation, authorities found over 3,300 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children on Mullins’ phone. Under federal law, Mullins must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.

Upon his release from prison, Mullins will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 20 years. Mullins’ sentence is a result of an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Kentucky State Police.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth on behalf of the United States. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Project Safe Childhood 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.