Monroe County Man Sentenced For Possession Of Child Porn

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – U.S. District Chief Judge Greg N. Stivers sentenced James L. Holland Jr., of Monroe County, Kentucky, to 108 months imprisonment, followed by a lifetime of supervision, and ordered him to pay $32,000 in restitution to six victims for possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Federal prison time awaits those whose desire to possess these horrible images which hurts our kids,” said U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman.

Holland, 63, of Gamaliel, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on the morning of the first day of trial, September 5, 2018, without the benefit of a plea agreement.

According to a sentencing memo filed in the case, on July 4, 2016, a Kentucky State Police (KSP) Trooper conducting an online undercover operation on a peer-to-peer network downloaded child pornography that was tracked back to the IP address associated with Holland. KSP obtained a search warrant for Holland’s residence and executed it on August 11, 2016. During the search of Holland’s home, investigators observed a computer in Holland’s bedroom that was running a peer-to-peer file-sharing program and uploading files to the internet. A preliminary investigation of a hard drive in the home revealed hundreds of files containing child exploitation material.

Several electronic storage devices were seized from Holland’s home; a KSP forensic review of the hard drives revealed approximately 1,943 files of child pornography, including images and videos. Additional child pornography was also found on an external hard drive connected to Holland’s computer. The device contained copies of files that KSP downloaded from Holland between July 4 and July 6, 2016.

Assistant United States Attorney Spencer McKiness prosecuted the case. The case was investigated by the Kentucky State Police and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

 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. 

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