Estill County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

LEXINGTON—An Estill County man admitted in federal court on Tuesday that he distributed and received videos containing child pornography.

Robert Emmanuel Evans, 40, of Estill County, Ky. pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and one count of receipt of child pornography.

Evans admitted that between August of 2010 and February 2011, he distributed child pornography to a minor and received child pornography from a minor.

He also acknowledged that the child pornography images he received featured minors younger than 12 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

According to the plea agreement, the FBI in Lexington received a lead that resulted in the execution of a federal search warrant at Evans’ residence in Irvine, Ky., on February 13, 2011. Evans was present during the execution of the search warrant and admitted to having child pornography on his computer and to receiving and sending child pornography. A forensic examination of the computer revealed numerous videos and photographs of minors engaged in sexual explicit conduct.

Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jack Conway, Kentucky Attorney General; Elizabeth A. Fries, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Division; and the Irvine Police Chief, jointly made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Irvine Police Department.

The sentencing is scheduled for December 12, 2011. Evans faces a minimum of five years in prison. The court will impose a sentence after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the statute governing the imposition of sentences.

This case was brought as part of the Eastern District of Kentucky’s efforts pursuant to Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative dedicated to protecting children from online exploitation and abuse.