Office of the Attorney General
Paducah Man Arrested Following Attorney General's Child Pornography Investigation

Attorney General Jack Conway today announced the arrest of a Paducah man on child pornography charges. General Conway's Cybercrimes investigators, with assistance from the Paducah Police Department, arrested 26-year-old Mathew Ferreira yesterday on nine counts of use of a minor in a sexual performance, 13 counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor and seven counts of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor. Ferreira was lodged in the McCracken County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond.

The charges against Ferreira stem from an undercover investigation by General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit that began in October of 2011. A search warrant was executed at Ferreira's Paducah residence on March 9, 2012 with assistance from Paducah Police.

McCracken County Attorney Mike Murphy is handling the prosecution of this case, in coordination with the Office of Commonwealth's Attorney Daniel Boaz. The Attorney General's office is also working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as part of its investigation.

Since its creation in June of 2008, General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit has launched nearly 270 child pornography investigations and seized more than 300,000 child pornographic images and videos from the Internet.

For additional information on cybersafety in Kentucky, visit General Conway's Cybersafety Page at http://ag.ky.gov/cybersafety/ . To report cyber abuse, visit the CyberTipline or call 1-800-843-5678.

Matthew Ferreira, 26