Oldham County Man Guilty Of Aiding And Abetting The Sex Trafficking Of A Child

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr. today announced the guilty plea of an Oldham County, Kentucky, man before Senior District Judge Charles R. Simpson III, in United States District Court, to a charge of aiding and abetting the sex trafficking of a minor

“Howard Chambers subjected this young girl to repeated sexual abuse,” stated U.S. Attorney John Kuhn.  “Acting with unfathomable selfishness, he chose to traumatize a child in favor of his own self-gratification. The goal of my office is to obtain a sentence of incarceration that insures Chambers will never touch another child.  I do want to thank the law enforcement officers and our prosecutor who worked tirelessly together in the investigation of these crimes. I want the public to know we are doing everything in our power to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.”

Howard Key Chambers, 65, admitted today in court, that he and Christopher Kosicki helped each other to carry out the sex trafficking of a child. Chambers admitted to travelling to co-defendant, Christopher Kosicki’s home in Louisville, to engage in sexual activity with a 10-year-old turned 11-year-old child,  between six and eight times, from 2013 until August 2014.  The two helped each other entice, harbor, provide, obtain, and maintain a person that had not attained the age of 14 years who was caused to engage in commercial sex acts.  Commercial sex acts include any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. On several occasions, Chambers gave Kosicki money after engaging in sexual activity with the child (age 10 and then 11).  On at least one occasion, Chambers admitted to giving money directly to the child after engaging in sexual activity with her.  Additionally, on one occasion, Kosicki photographed Chambers engaging in sexual activity with the child.

In 2013, Chambers met co-defendant Kosicki via Craigslist.com.  The two communicated online and, eventually, Chambers travelled from Oldham County to Louisville to meet Kosicki at Kosicki’s residence. The criminal activity took place at Kosicki’s Louisville home.

Kosicki was sentenced to serve 50 years in prison, followed by a life term of Supervised Release, by Chief District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr., on February 1, 2016.  Kosicki pleaded guilty to multiple child sexual exploitation charges, including sex trafficking of a child and the production of child pornography involving 10 children, on July 23, 2015, in U.S. District Court in Owensboro, Kentucky.  Kosicki, 27, pleaded guilty in total to 15 charges, in a Superseding Indictment, including sex trafficking a child under age 14, and aiding and abetting another person to cross a state line with intent to engage in sexual acts with a person who had not attained the age of 12 years.

Law enforcement officials first became aware of Kosicki’s criminal conduct after arresting Raymond Shadburn in Seymour, Indiana, on September 24, 2014, on child exploitation charges.  During a post-arrest interview, Shadburn provided information that led law enforcement to Kosicki’s residence in Louisville. Shadburn is being prosecuted in the Southern District of Indiana.                    

Sentencing will be held before Chief Judge McKinley, on July 5, 2016, in Louisville, Kentucky.           

Assistant United States Attorneys Jo E. Lawless and Spencer McKiness prosecuted the case.  The Indianapolis Police Department, District of Columbia Metro Police, Louisville Metro Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation.

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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."