Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear says he's impressed with the efficiencyof Operation Shielded Child as more child sexual predators were arrested last month.
The Democratic AG announced the arrests of 10 individuals during a press conference today, which was also live-streamed online.
Operation Shielded Child sees the AG’s Cyber Crimes Unit provide resources and cyber-infrastructure for law enforcement to arrange sting operations and make arrests.
It made its debut in July in conjunction with the McCracken County Sheriff's Office resulting in two arrests.
Now, Beshear says the program has expanded to 9 other counties resulting in 10 arrests and 400 felony counts involving child pornography and online solicitation during the past month.
“I am so proud of those efforts but neither I nor the investigators in that unit are satisfied and we will never be satisfied if there is one remaining child predator in Kentucky that we have not identified and caught.”
Arrests were made in Allen, Boone, Franklin, Garrard, Hardin, Jessamine, Kenton, Scott and Shelby counties.
The arrested are:
- Allen County: Investigators arrested William Crowe, 32, of Scottsville, and charged him with 100 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
- Boone County: Investigators arrested Phillip Farley, 45, of Walton, and charged him with 20 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
- Boone County: Investigators arrested Barry Moravec, 63, of Burlington, and charged him with 25 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
- Franklin County: Investigators arrested Douglas Ray Judy, 33, of Frankfort, and charged him with one count of prohibited use of an electronic communications system to procure a minor for sex, a Class D felony, and two counts of violating his conditions as a registered sex offender in Kentucky, a Class C felony.
- Garrard County: Investigators arrested Eddie Rowe, 53, of Lancaster, and charged him with 100 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
- Hardin County: Investigators arrested Eric Easley, 47, of Vine Grove, and charged him with 40 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
- Jessamine County: Investigators arrested Daniel Rike, 34, of Nicholasville, and charged him with 100 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
- Kenton County: Investigators arrested Scott Hardesty, 47, of Independence, and charged him with four counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
- Scott County: Investigators arrested David Dunn, 58, of Dayton, Ohio and charged him with one count of prohibited use of an electronic communications system to procure a minor for sex, a Class D felony. He traveled to Georgetown where he was arrested.
- Shelby County: Investigators arrested Gary Stoops, 32, of Shelbyville, and charged him with four counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
Operation Shielded Child cases will be handled by local county prosecutors.
Beshear says that at any time there are an estimated 500,000 child predators online.
“But we have never had better technology than we do right now to find these people who are downloading and sharing the worst of the worst, hardcore child pornography, or the tools to find those that are online trying to entice minors to meet them to engage in sex," said Beshear. "We have never had a group as good as this Cyber Crimes unit in Kentucky that is working to protect our children everyday.
“In the past, on average, the office of the attorney general would remove 15 child sexual predators from the streets every single year," said Beshear. "I’m happy to say that between January 4th and September 1st, they have removed 31."
Beshear's CyberCrimes Unit has arrested 42 sexual predators since the start of the year and is on pace to triple that number.
