Convicted Sex Offender Residing In Logan County, Kentucky, Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison For Possession Of Child Pornography

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A previously convicted sex offender, living in Logan County, Kentucky, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by a life term of Supervised Release, on Thursday, May 1, 2014, by Senior District Judge Thomas B. Russell, for violating federal child pornography laws, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. There is no parole in the federal system.

Jeffrey Lynn Hines, age 40, of Russellville, Kentucky, had previously pleaded guilty to a three-count Superseding Indictment that charged him with receiving child pornography, by way of the United States Postal Service and the Internet between August 2010 and April 2011. The Indictment also charged him with possession of child pornography and of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms. Hines admitted to ordering the child pornography, through a website, from a company located outside the United States and to downloading images of child pornography from the Internet.

Law enforcement officials executed a federal Search Warrant on Hines home in Russellville. Among the items located and seized pursuant to the Warrant were several computers containing numerous still images and video files depicting child pornography, a binder with printed images of child pornography, numerous VHS tapes, and more than 30 DVDs (including the ones Hines had ordered from the international company containing child pornography). Law enforcement officials also found and seized a Remington, Wingmaster model 870, 12-gauge semi-automatic pump shotgun; a Maverick model 88, 12-gauge semi-automatic pump shotgun; a Westpoint model 948E, 20-gauge single shot shotgun; and a Bauer Firearms Corp., model Bauer Automatic .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol.

Information from the Kentucky State Police Sex Offender Registry website showed that Hines was a sex offender registrant. The underlying conviction arose in Logan County, Kentucky Circuit Court. On June 5, 1995, Hines was convicted of first degree sexual abuse of a six-year-old little boy (a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year). In 2004, Hines was again charged with first degree sexual abuse of a child (a four-year-old boy). He received diversion for a period of five years. During that time period, in 2010, Hines failed to comply with sex offender registration requirements. At the time of his arrest in this case, he was compliant with the registration.

Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless prosecuted the case. The United States Postal Inspection Service led the investigation. The Kentucky State Police and Logan County Sheriff’s Department assisted with execution of the Search Warrant and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives aided with the firearms charge.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."