Office of the Attorney General
Leslie County Man Sentenced to 133 Months in Child Pornography Case

Attorney General Jack Conway, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) jointly announce the sentencing this week of a Leslie County man to 133 months in prison for receiving thousands of child pornographic images. The charges against 42-year-old Michael Caldwell are the result of an investigation by General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit following a referral from ICE.

"I would like to thank the U.S. Attorney's Office for their successful prosecution of this case," General Conway said. "I also appreciate the dedication of my cybercrimes investigators and our other law enforcement partners who work every day to make the Internet a safer place for Kentucky kids."

Caldwell has admitted to receiving more than 4,900 child pornographic images, many depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

A federal grand jury in London, Ky. indicted Caldwell on October 28, 2010 on two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Investigators from the Attorney General's office, ICE and Kentucky State Police executed a federal arrest warrant for Caldwell on October 29, 2010.

Caldwell must serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence and will have to register as a sex offender when he's released from prison. He also faces a lifetime of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Since its creation in June of 2008, General Conway's Cybercrimes Unit has launched more than 230 child pornography investigations and seized more than 280,000 child pornographic images and videos from the Internet. The unit is also a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

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.

Michael Caldwell, 42