Owenton Man Sentenced to 108 Months for Distributing Child Pornography

FRANKFORT, Ky. – An Owenton, Kentucky, man, Patrick Voegele, 35, was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday, to 108 months in prison, by U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, for distributing child pornography using the internet.

According to Voegele’s plea agreement, in January 2018, KSP was investigating CyberTip reports involving the distribution of child pornography via Skype. Law enforcement officers traced the IP address to Voegele. Voegele admitted using Skype to upload both still images and videos of child pornography. A forensic investigation of Voegele’s devices revealed 2,748 images and 709 videos of child pornography. Voegele also admitted to knowingly distributing child pornography.

Voegele pleaded guilty to the charge in October 2019.           

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

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Steven L. Igyarto, Resident Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations; and Rodney Brewer, Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, jointly made the announcement. 

The investigation was directed by the DHS-HIS and KSP-Electronic Crime Branch. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Marye.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  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.

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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