LEXINGTON, KY – The U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky is reporting that a Lexington man, Kevin Daniel Lentz, 49, was sentenced on Thursday, by U.S. District Judge Karen C. Caldwell, to 30 years in prison, for the production and possession of child pornography.
Lentz admitted in his plea agreement that he began an online conversation with a 9-year-old victim, on March 19, 2023. Within minutes, the chat became sexual. Lentz sent the victim 85 images or videos of adult pornography, including sexually explicit images and videos of Lentz. Lentz also persuaded the victim to create multiple sexually explicit videos and images of himself, and to send them to Lentz via the internet. Lentz acknowledged that, at the time, he knew the victim was a minor. The conduct was discovered after the victim’s parents located the sexually explicit conversations and images on the victim’s phone. The parents then contacted law enforcement.
A search warrant was executed at Lentz's residence in Lexington, on August 8, 2023. The search resulted in the seizure of numerous electronic devices, including a computer, a cellular phone, and multiple hard drives. A search of these devices revealed several hundred additional images and videos of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct that Lentz obtained from the internet.
Under federal law, Lentz must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life. Lentz was also ordered to pay $33,000 in restitution and $22,000 in special assessments.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Chief Lawrence Weathers, Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by HSI and Lexington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
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