Lexington Man Sentenced for Production of Child Pornography

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lexington man, Eric Kelsey Shepherd, 30, was sentenced on Friday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, to 50 years in prison, for production of child pornography.

According to his plea agreement, in January 2022, law enforcement was contacted about a 12-year-old victim who was sexually exploited by an adult male. Further investigation revealed that Shepherd, then 27 years-old, met the victim on Snapchat, where he initially claimed he was 17 years-old. Shepherd met the minor victim on numerous occasions to engage in sexual activity, some of which the victim alleged involved violence against the victim. Shepherd took images and videos of many of the sexual interactions, which were located on both the victim's and Shepherd's cellphones. Shepherd has a prior state conviction for sexual abuse and unlawful transaction with a minor and, as a result, will face enhanced penalties.

Under federal law, Shepherd must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life.

Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief Lawrence Weathers, Lexington Police Department; and Sheriff Mike Coyle, Madison County Sheriff's Office, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by HSI; Lexington Police Department; and Madison County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.

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