McCracken County, Kentucky Man Guilty Of Distribution And Possession Of Child Pornography

PADUCAH, Ky. – A McCracken County, Kentucky man pleaded guilty to a four count federal superseding indictment yesterday, in United States District Court, before Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell, charging him with possession and distribution of child pornography announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Matthew Francis Ferreira, 27 was indicted by a federal grand jury, meeting in Paducah, Kentucky, on November 9, 2012, and was charged with three counts of distribution of child pornography via a computer, one count possession of child pornography via a computer.

In court, Ferreira pleaded guilty to utilizing peer-to-peer software and Skype software to knowingly distribute images of child pornography. According to the plea agreement, between January and March of 2012, law enforcement from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Cybercrime Unit, downloaded through the internet, several video files containing child pornography images, from the peer-to-peer software on Ferreira’s computer. Ferreira agreed to forfeiture of personal items used in the commission of this crime.

At sentencing, Ferreira faces a combined maximum term of imprisonment of 70 years, a combined maximum fine of $1,000,000, and supervised release of at least 5 years and up to any number of years, including life, which the Court may specify.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Sparks and is being investigated by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Cybercrime Unit.

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.”