Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Kentucky Man Sentenced to 292 Months in Prison for Child Exploitation and Production of Child Pornography

LEXINGTON, Ky.— In a significant development, Sean Ryan Reardon, a 30-year-old resident of Stanford, Ky., has been sentenced to 292 months in federal prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves. Reardon pleaded guilty to charges of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography.

According to Reardon's plea agreement, he met the minor victim in Fall 2019 and initiated communication with the victim via Snapchat in early 2020. Reardon admitted to engaging in sexual contact with the victim at his home and other locations between July 2021 and March 2022. Additionally, he confessed to capturing pictures and videos of these encounters and exchanging sexually explicit content through Snapchat and Google Duo.

Having entered a guilty plea in February 2023, Reardon is required to serve 85 percent of his prison sentence under federal law. Following his release, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years.

The sentence was jointly announced by Carlton S. Shier IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Louisville Field Office; and Col. Phillip Burnett, Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police.

The FBI and Kentucky State Police conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Melton representing the United States in the case.

This prosecution falls under the purview of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the alarming rise of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative coordinates federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

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