LOUISVILLE, KY – An Eastview, Kentucky, man has been sentenced this week to 15 years in prison, followed by a life term of supervised release by United States District Judge Charles R. Simpson, III, after being convicted by a federal jury of child pornography charges, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Gary Loyd Keith was found guilty on June 23, 2011, of receiving and possessing child pornography following a three-day trial in United States District Court. At the time of his arrest in May 2009, Keith was on supervised probation for a 2005 conviction in Hardin Circuit Court for distributing and possessing child pornography.

According to court records and information presented at trial, Kentucky Probation and Parole initiated an investigation at a residence in Eastview, Kentucky, in November 2009 following a complaint that Keith was in violation of the conditions of his release. Keith was living at an address without the permission of probation and parole and was using a computer at the residence.

An initial review of the contents of the computer found 72 images of child pornography. A Hardin County Sheriff’s Office detective obtained a search warrant, seized the computer and submitted it for forensic examination by the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch.

Forensic examination of the computer revealed the presence of nearly 280 images of child pornography, that is, images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The majority of the images were attached to emails sent through Yahoo!. Additionally, the examiner recovered chat texts that demonstrated Keith as one of the individuals involved in the communication during which he actively sought images of child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless and was investigated by the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, Kentucky Probation and Parole and Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch through Kentucky’s Internet Crimes Against Children “ICAC” task force.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched. Led by United States Attorneys’ 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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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