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Office of the Attorney General
Repeat Child Sex Offender Sentenced to Nearly 20 Years In Prison Following Attorney General's Investigation
Attorney General Jack Conway today announced that a repeat child sex offender has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for violating federal child pornography laws. Forty-seven-year-old Sherman Gayle Pike, of Lebanon, Ky., was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court in Louisville to 235 months in prison. The sentencing follows an investigation by General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit.
"Because of the hard work of my Cybercrimes investigators and federal prosecutors, we have put another child pornographer and repeat sex offender behind bars," General Conway said. "Working together, we are making the Internet a safer place for Kentucky kids."
General Conway's Cybercrimes investigators arrested Pike on Feb. 1, 2010 after conducting a peer-to-peer undercover investigation that began in October of 2009. A forensic examination of two computers seized from Pike's Marion County residence revealed numerous images and videos depicting child pornography.
Pike is a lifetime registered sex offender, having been convicted in TN in 1991 of aggravated sexual battery involving a 10-year-old child. The prosecution of this case was handled by the office of David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Ky.
Since its creation in June of 2008, General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit, a member of the U.S. Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, has launched more than 230 child pornography investigations and seized more than 280,000 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.
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