FRANKFORT, Ky.— A Frankfort man, Joshua James Moore, 45, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison on Monday, by U.S. District Judge Gregory VanTatenhove, after pleading guilty to knowingly receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and being a felon in possession of firearm and explosive devices.
According to Moore’s plea agreement, he admitted to knowingly receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, through his computer. Specifically, Moore used the Internet to search and download as many as 15 videos and 20 pictures of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Additionally, following at least two convictions for crimes punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, Moore was in possession of three firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun, and two explosive pipe bombs. Moore admitted that he knew he was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Moore has two prior convictions, a conviction of cultivation of five or more marijuana plants, in January 2018, and a conviction for possession of methamphetamine in January 2018.
Moore pleaded guilty in May 2021.
Under federal law, Moore must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Shawn Morrow, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, Louisville Field Office; Daniel Cameron, Kentucky Attorney General, and Sheriff Chris Quire, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office; and Lawrence Weathers, Chief of the Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by ATF, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, and the Lexington Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth and Special Assistant United States Attorney James Chapman.
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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