LEXINGTON MAN SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS FOR CHILD EXPLOITATION OFFENSES

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Lexington man has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison, for possessing and distributing child pornography.

On Thursday, Chief U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell formally sentenced 64 year-old Kevin Labona for his offenses.  Labona, who has a criminal history of illegal sexual contact with minors that dates back to 1986, received an enhanced sentence.  Under Federal law, he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.

Labona was convicted in a bench trial, on March 2, 2016.  At trial, the evidence established that, beginning in 2013, Labona distributed images of child pornography that were violent, sadistic, and masochistic in nature.  The evidence further established that he distributed images, by showing them on his phone to four minors, as a way to entice minors into having sexual contact with him.  Labona sexually exploited more than one of these minors in 2014.

Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Howard S. Marshall, Special Agent in Charge, FBI (Louisville Division); Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, FBI (Cincinnati Division); and Andrew J. Smith, Sheriff, Logan County, Ohio, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Logan County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Marye and Neeraj Gupta prosecuted the case on behalf of the federal government.