Garrard County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lancaster, Kentucky, man, Arthur Eugene Butler, 41, admitted in federal court Friday, before U.S. District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves, to possessing and distributing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.           

Butler had previously plead guilty to receiving child pornography in United States District Court, in 2010. After finishing his five-year prison sentence, Butler was serving a five-year period of supervised release. According to his plea agreement, prior to his final release, law enforcement received information that, in April 2019, he was sending sexually explicit images of children to his Google photos account. A search of his house found a Google Pixel phone that contained hundreds of images and videos of children engaged in various forms of sexually explicit conduct, including the rape of prepubescent children.                       

Butler appeared for revocation of his supervised release in November 2019.  Friday, he entered a guilty plea to new charge. 

 “The defendant acknowledged to possessing over 600 images of child pornography, including images that portrayed acts of violence and abuse. Even more troubling, the defendant committed his crimes while serving a period of supervised release for a conviction for another child pornography offense,” said Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Because of his recent actions, the defendant is deservedly facing a lengthy sentence of imprisonment for being a recidivist offender. I commend the law enforcement officers involved, including investigators from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, for their work on this investigation.” 

U.S. Attorney Duncan; Steve Igyarto, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations (DHS-HSI); and Daniel Cameron, Attorney General of Kentucky, jointly announced the guilty plea.

“A strong partnership with federal officials is essential as we work to protect Kentucky’s children from sexual exploitation,” said General Cameron. “Our Cyber Crimes Unit within the Department of Criminal Investigations works closely with federal law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of complex cases to ensure that the voiceless are not forgotten.”

The investigation was conducted by DHS-HIS and the Cyber Crimes Branch of the Office of the Attorney General.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth.  

Butler is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24, 2020. He faces a minimum sentence of 15 years, and a maximum of up to 60 years, as well as a maximum fine of $500,000. However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court, after its consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes. 

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

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