Richmond Man Sentenced for Production of Child Pornography

FRANKFORT, Ky. – A Richmond, Ky., man, Derek Hahn, 37, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove to 330 months in prison, for the production of child pornography. 

According to his plea agreement, on October 2, 2024, law enforcement reviewed a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that reported an incident of child sexual abuse material being uploaded and shared with another user or group of users on the Kik platform. Through an investigation, law enforcement determined that the IP address was associated with Hahn’s home and place of employment. Hahn was taken into custody, and two phones were seized from his person and searched, where multiple images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity were found. Additionally, multiple videos were also found depicting a minor undressing and completely nude. In the videos, the victim does not appear to know they are being recorded, and the camera is recording from a hidden location. Hahn admitted that he produced the videos and images. 

Under federal law, Hahn must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life. In addition to his prison sentence, Hahn was also ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution.

Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Col. Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police; Chief Derrick Napier, Frankfort Police Department; and Sheriff Mike Coyle, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the HSI, KSP, Frankfort Police Department, and Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.

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