Louisville Man Sentenced for Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography
Ryan Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison

LOUISVILLE, KY—S herman Ryan, age 41, of Louisville, Kentucky, in Jefferson County, was sentenced by Judge John G. Heyburn, II, United States District Court, Louisville, Kentucky, to nine years of imprisonment followed by a lifetime of supervised release on charges of attempted distribution and possession of child pornography using his computer and “Limewire,” a file-sharing program, Acting U.S. Attorney Candace G. Hill of the Western District of Kentucky announced today.

Ryan admitted in his plea agreement entered on October 30, 2008, that on April 24, 2008, he attempted to distribute and possess images of child pornography on his computer using the file-sharing program “Limewire.” On April 24, 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a search for images of child pornography through the peer-to-peer application Limewire software. The Limewire application allows users to share and trade files with one another, and search for files through a common directory, thus the term “peer-to-peer.”

The Affidavit

The Affidavit further states that the FBI investigators initiated a Limewire search for known child pornography files. The FBI printed the list of Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses associated with the known child pornography files as provided by Limewire. Every computer or device on the Internet is referenced by a unique IP address the same way every telephone has a unique telephone number. Each time an individual accesses the Internet, the computer from which that individual initiates access is assigned an IP address. One of the listed IP addresses was subsequently traced to Ryan.

The Oklahoma City FBI captured child pornography images from the computer bearing the IP address traced to Sherman Ryan and forwarded the materials to the Louisville FBI. In addition, Ryan attempted to distribute child pornography by placing images containing child pornography in a shared file folder allowing them to be downloaded.

The FBI executed a search warrant at Ryan’s residence in Louisville, Kentucky, on August 26, 2008. Federal agents spoke with Ryan and he stated that he had been looking at child pornography for the last two to three years and that he had “a problem” regarding the viewing of child pornography and looked at child pornography almost every day. Ryan also stated that while he is on the computer, half the time is spent looking at child pornography, the other half of the time he is looking at adult pornography. Ryan also advised that he was the only person in the house using the computer.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd and it was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.