Augusta Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

COVINGTON, KY—The United States Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office jointly announced today that 32-year-old Ronald Peed of Augusta, Kentucky, pleaded guilty yesterday to receipt of child pornography.

In the course of his guilty plea, Peed admitted that between March and May 2009, he used the Internet to download more than 600 images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. He also admitted that some of the images depicted children under the age of 12 while other images depicted sadistic conduct. Peed was indicted in January of this year.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, Cyber Crimes Branch. The United States was represented in the case by the Fort Mitchell Branch Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Peed is currently scheduled to appear for sentencing before United States District Judge David L. Bunning in Covington on July 23, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. Peed will face a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison. However, any sentence would be imposed by the court after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.