Jury Convicts Meade County Man For Violating Federal Child Exploitation Law

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Meade County, Kentucky, man was convicted last week for accessing the Internet with intent to view child pornography, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman.  The jury convicted Dennis Ammons, age 58, on October 12, 2018, following a three-day jury trial.

“This conviction is the product of a courageous victim and a dogged career federal prosecutor, collaborating to seek justice and protect other Kentucky kids,” stated U.S. Attorney Russell M. Coleman.

According to a pre-trial memo and evidence introduced during the trial, on December 15, 2015, law enforcement officials executed a federal search warrant on Ammons’ home and seized nearly 200 digital devices such as laptop computers, hard drives, tablets, thumb drives and memory cards. Forensic examination of the devices revealed evidence of Ammons’ online activities concerning child pornography.  Seven of the devices contained videos or still images depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

Sentencing is set for Tuesday, January 22, 2019, before United States District Court Judge Claria Horn Boom.  Ammons faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and at least five years of Supervised Release.  He will have to register as a child sex offender upon his release from federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless prosecuted the case with assistance from paralegal Mary Kennedy. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security Federal Protective Service, investigated the case.

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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. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.