Lexington Man Sentenced for Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lexington man, Matthew Ryan Mullins, 29, was sentenced on Thursday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, to 168 months in prison, for receiving and possessing child pornography.

According to his plea agreement, on June 21, 2022, law enforcement identified Mullins during an investigation into online groups involving the receipt and distribution of child pornography. Mullins admitted to exchanging large amounts of child sexual abuse material with others across the world using various online platforms. Over 3,300 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children were found on his phone.

Under federal law, Mullins 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 20 years.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Col. Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by HSI and KSP. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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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