Jackson Co. Woman Sentenced To 17.5 Years In Prison On Child Pornography Charges

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A Jackson County woman was sentenced on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, to serve 210 months in a federal prison for producing, receiving, possessing and distributing child pornography, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger also ordered Kimberly Rachael Moore, 31, of Tuckasegee, N.C. to serve under court supervision the rest of her life upon release from prison and to register as a sex offender.

Brock D. Nicholson, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and the Carolinas and Sheriff Jimmy Ashe of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office join U.S. Attorney Tompkins in making today’s announcement.

In December 2012, a federal criminal indictment charged Moore with one count of production of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and four counts of distribution of child pornography. Moore pleaded guilty to the charges in May 2013. According to court filings and proceedings, during the investigation detectives discovered an extensive collection of child pornography, as well as a computer hard drive, an email account, and online photo sharing accounts.

Moore is in federal custody and will be transferred into custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. Federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

The investigation into Moore was handled by HSI and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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 http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.