Fort Thomas Man Used Bit Torrent to Swap Child Pornography

Shore News Network

COVINGTON, Ky. – A Ft. Thomas, Kentucky man, James Hamilton, 52, was sentenced to 90 months on Friday, by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, for distribution of child pornography.

According to his plea agreement, between January 31, 2018 and March 1, 2018, an investigator with the Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force traced a computer, which had connected to Bit Torrent and downloaded files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, to a computer in Hamilton’s possession.  After a search warrant was obtained, Hamilton’s laptop was seized by law enforcement, who later found the suspected files, along with over 600 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Hamilton pleaded guilty in June 2020.

Under federal law, Hamilton must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years, following his release.


Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jerry C. Templet Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations; and Chief Craig Sorrell, Campbell County Police Department, jointly announce the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by HIS and the Campbell County Police Department. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wade Napier.

This case was prosecuted 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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