Federal Grand Jury Indicts Fort Campbell Soldier for Child Exploitation Offenses

Paducah, KY – A federal grand jury in Paducah returned an indictment on April 15, 2025, charging a Fort Campbell soldier with enticement and sexual exploitation of a minor.

U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky and Chief Brian Laird of the Paducah Police Department made the announcement.

According to the indictment, Cameron Lawrence, 23, was charged with one count of enticement of a minor, two counts of attempted enticement of a minor, and two counts of sexual exploitation of children.

The defendant made his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on June 3, 2025. The Court ordered the defendant detained pending trial. If convicted, Lawrence faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by the Paducah Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leigh Ann Dycus, of the U.S. Attorney’s Paducah Branch Office, is prosecuting the case.

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.”

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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