LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A 20-year-old man was arrested by the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch on Tuesday after an undercover Internet Crimes Against Children investigation found that he distributed child sexual abuse material, KSP reported.
Police detailed that at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Ryland Neal Cordell Gilpin was arrested and charged with ten counts of "distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor under 12 years old."
The investigation began, KSP detailed, after the branch discovered that Gilpin allegedly shared images of "child sexual exploitation online." Equipment used in the crime was then seized and examined by KSP's forensic lab.
KSP reported that the charges are Class-C felonies and are "punishable by five to ten years in prison."
KSP noted that the investigation is ongoing.
"The Mission of the ICAC Task Force created by the United States Department of Justice and administrated by the Kentucky State Police, is to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in developing a response to cyber enticement and child sexual abuse material investigations," a release from KSP read.
Further, the task force was created due to the increasing number of children and teenagers who are on the internet, along with the large number of child sexual abuse material online, and the heightened online activity of "predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims," the release concluded.
