Office of the Attorney General
Knott County Man Sentenced to 13 Years For Receipt of Child Pornography

Attorney General Jack Conway and  United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, James Zerhusen, jointly announce the sentencing of 27-year-old Joshua Slone, of Knott County, for receiving child pornography. United States District Court Judge Amul R. Thapar sentenced Slone on December 7, 2009 to 13 years in prison. Prosecution of the case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Slone pled guilty to receiving and possessing child pornography on August 26, 2009 in U.S. District Court in Pikeville. His guilty plea followed an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s Cybercrimes Unit. This was one of the first child pornography cases handled by the Cybercrimes Unit created by General Conway in June 2008.  A forensic examination of Slone’s computer revealed thousands of images and hundreds of videos depicting child pornography.

“I appreciate the hard work of my investigators as well as the U.S. Attorney’s office in seeing this case come to a close,” said General Conway. “To date, my Cybercrimes investigators have seized more than 37,000 child pornographic images and videos and launched more than 100 child porn investigations. They have made Kentucky a national model for Internet safety and made the Internet a safer place for Kentucky kids.”

Under federal law, Slone must serve 85% of his prison sentence. Upon release, he will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for the rest of his life.