FRANKFORT, Ky. – A Bedford, Ky., man, Leonard J. Andrew, Jr., 36, was sentenced on Tuesday to 180 months in federal prison, by U.S. District Judge Gregory VanTatenhove, for the distribution of child pornography.
According to his plea agreement, on February 7, 2018, Andrew admitted to sending multiple explicit videos and images of minors to at least two different recipients via Facebook Messenger. The videos and images sent by Andrew contained images of minors engaged in sexual activity and were sent to recipients outside of Kentucky.
Andrew pleaded guilty in November 2020.
Under federal law, Andrew must serve 85 percent of his prison sentences. Andrew will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 25 years, following his release
Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jerry Templet, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Colonel Phillip Burnett, Commissioner, Kentucky State Police; jointly announced the sentences.
The investigation was conducted by the DHS-HSI and KSP. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth.
This case was brought 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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