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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA former Attica High School assistant track coach has been sentenced to 24 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of production and possession of child pornography.
Jeremy Kelley, 41, of Attica, was sentenced by U.S. Southern District Court Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler announced Monday. Kelley was arrested in July 2018 and indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 21, 2018.
“Kelley is a child predator who deliberately sought out a high school coaching position intentionally placing himself near children,” Minkler said in a news release announcing the sentence. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting individuals, like Kelley, who choose to sexually exploit children and who knowingly abuse positions of public trust.”
The investigation into Kelley began in January 2018 when the Montgomery Sheriff’s Department opened a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children CyberTip. The tip included 18 images of prepubescent females exposing their genitals, engaged in sex acts and erotic poses that were held in a Dropbox account created by Kelley. Dropbox, in compliance with a search warrant executed by law enforcement, provided detectives with a mass storage device that contained more than 16,563 image and video files of mostly child pornography.
An executed search warrant of Kelley’s home and phone revealed hundreds of videos and 27,000 images of mostly child pornography, including prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Additionally, agents discovered the email address associated with Kelley’s Dropbox account and his Dropbox application. Kelley admitted to receiving and possessing child pornography on his phone.
Law enforcement also discovered files of a minor victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct while in Kelley’s care, custody and control recorded in June 2018. Kelley admitted he produced child pornography of the minor victim because he had a sexual interest in the victim, and that he collected and distributed child pornography collection because he had a sexual interest in children.
“This sentence should send a strong message to those who would perpetrate such heinous crimes against children – the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to identify, investigate and prosecute those who engage in these illegal activities,” Grant Mendenhall, FBI Indianapolis, special agent in charge, said in a statement.
The case against Kelley was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Montgomery Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. attorney Tiffany J. Preston, who prosecuted the case, said Kelley will serve 20 years’ supervised release following his prison sentence.
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