Independence Man Sentenced to 192 Months for Distributing Child Pornography

COVINGTON, Ky.- An Independence, Kentucky, man, Michael Clark, 50, was sentenced in on Tuesday to 192 months in federal prison, by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, following conviction of distributing child pornography.

According to the evidence at trial, Clark distributed child pornography, on five different occasions, to a law enforcement officer using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. A search warrant was executed at Clark’s residence in April 2018. His computer was seized and a forensic examination revealed the child pornography. 

Clark was convicted by a federal jury in September 2019.

Under federal law, Clark must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 20 years, following his release.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; L. Jerry Templet, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations; Chief Spike Jones, Kenton County Police Department; and Chief Chris Sorrell, Campbell County Police Department, jointly made the announcement. 

The investigation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigations, Kenton County Police Department, and Campbell County Police Department’s Electronic Crimes Unit. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine K. Leonhard. 

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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