Sex Offender Sentenced

United States Attorney, Michael J. Moore Middle District of Georgia, announced that on January 27, 2011, United States District Judge W. Louis Sands sentenced defendant Solomon B. Kersey, to 151 months’ imprisonment for distribution of child pornography. The Court further ordered the defendant to serve twenty-five years of supervised release after completing his sentence of imprisonment and to register as a sex offender in the state where he lives.

Kersey, age 26, a resident of Valdosta, Georgia, pleaded guilty on April 23, 2010, to a violation of Distribution of Child Pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 2252(a)(2). Kersey has been in custody since the time of his arrest on November 4, 2009.

The stipulation of facts in the plea agreement included the following: On October 6, 2008, a Valdosta resident reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation that he had been sent numerous items of unsolicited child pornography from another computer user. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this and determined that the child pornography images had been sent from defendant Kersey's residence in Valdosta.

On December 5, 2008, Agents executed a search warrant at the defendant's residence. The defendant was interviewed at the time of the search and confessed to receiving, possessing and distributing images of child pornography via the internet.

The FBI computer analyst examined numerous items of computer media which were seized from the defendant's residence. In total, the FBI forensic examiner found approximately 5,000 still images of child pornography and approximately 190 videos of child pornography.

United States Attorney Michael Moore said, "One of the goals of the United States Attorney's Office is to track down and prosecute offenders who, by participating in the distribution of child pornography, repeatedly exploit the innocence of the children who have already been victimized by the producers."

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jim Crane. For additional information please contact Sue McKinney, Public Affairs Specialist at (478) 621-2602.