LEXINGTON, KY— The U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky is reporting that a Lexington man, Justin Tyler Ainslie, 25, was sentenced to 480 months in federal prison on Thursday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, for the production and distribution of child pornography.
According to the Ainslie’s plea agreement, starting in June 2020, law enforcement received two cyber tips about an online user who had uploaded child sexual abuse material to social media platforms. A search of Ainslie’s residence resulted in the seizure of multiple electronic devices that contained 11,524 images and 1,501 videos of child sexual abuse material. The production charge was based upon a review of Ainslie’s phone that revealed photos that Ainslie admitted to taking. The photos depicted child sexual abuse material of minor females.
Ainslie was originally indicted in Eastern District of Kentucky (EDKY) for the distribution of child pornography charge and then charged in the Western District of Kentucky (WDKY) for production of child pornography. Ainslie consented to a transfer of the WDKY charges to the EDKY for his guilty plea and sentencing.
Ainslie pleaded guilty in March 2022.
Under federal law, Ainslie must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life. Additionally, Ainslie will be required to pay $138,500 in restitution.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jerry Templet, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations; and Chief Lawrence Weathers, Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentencing.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations and Lexington Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.
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