A Danville, Ky., man, Lenoard Riley, 45, pleaded guilty on Friday, before Chief U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, to transporting child pornography using the Internet.   

According to Riley’s plea agreement, he admitted that on July 30, 2017, he was in possession of 23 images and two videos of child pornography on his smart phone.  These images depicted children under 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Riley further admitted that he knew the images he received, possessed, and transported through his computer involved minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.                       

Riley was indicted in March 2020.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Steven L. Igyarto, Resident Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations; and Lt. Colonel Phillip Burnett, Acting Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, announced the guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by DHS-HIS and KSP-Electronic Crime Branch. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Marye.  

Riley is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, April 23, 2021. He faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison. However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court, after its consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  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.