Richard Wayne Johnson, Child Pornography, Kentucky 2017

Richard Wayne Johnson, a resident of Oldham County, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to charges of possessing, transporting, and advertising images containing child pornography.

According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, Johnson admitted to receiving and possessing thousands of images and videos of child pornography and further admitted to advertising those images over the Internet.

A Cybertip from AOL indicated that a user was transferring child pornography by email on January 19, 2012. The email traced back to Johnson, and a further review of Johnson’s email account revealed that he was posting requests for the trading of child pornography on an online group.

One of the advertisements occurred on September 13, 2013. In the posts, Johnson included ‘albums’ (folders filled with images of child pornography). He provided descriptions of the contents in the message, but a password was required to open the albums. Individuals interested in trading child pornography with Johnson had to contact him directly to obtain the password for Johnson’s ‘album.’

Law enforcement officials executed a state search warrant at Johnson’s home on or about September 17, 2013, and a forensic examination of Johnson’s computers and other digital devices revealed thousands of images of child pornography that he had obtained from the Internet.

According to the plea agreement, at the time of sentencing, the United States will ask for a sentence of 30 years’ incarceration and an agreed-upon lifetime period of supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled before Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell in Louisville on July 17, 2017.

Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless is prosecuting this case, and the Kentucky State Police is investigating.

This case was brought 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.

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