LOUISVILLE MAN SENTENCED FOR DISTRIBUTION AND POSSESSION OF CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY
Ryan Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison
LOUISVILLE, KY-S herman Ryan, age 41, of Louisville, Kentucky, in Jefferson
County, was sentenced by Judge John G. Heyburn, II, United States District
Court, Louisville, Kentucky, to nine years of imprisonment followed by a
lifetime of supervised release on charges of attempted distribution and
possession of child pornography using his computer and "Limewire," a
file-sharing program, Acting U.S. Attorney Candace G. Hill of the Western
District of Kentucky announced today.
Ryan admitted in his plea agreement entered on October 30, 2008 that on
April 24, 2008, he attempted to distribute and possess images of child
pornography on his computer using the file-sharing program "Limewire." On
April 24, 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a search
for images of child pornography through the peer-to-peer application
Limewire software. The Limewire application allows users to share and trade
files with one another, and search for files through a common directory,
thus the term "peer-to-peer."
The Affidavit
The Affidavit further states that the FBI investigators initiated a Limewire
search for known child pornography files. The FBI printed the list of
Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses associated with the known child
pornography files as provided by Limewire. Every computer or device on the
Internet is referenced by a unique IP address the same way every telephone
has a unique telephone number. Each time an individual accesses the
Internet, the computer from which that individual initiates access is
assigned an IP address. One of the listed IP addresses was subsequently
traced to Ryan.
The Oklahoma City FBI captured child pornography images from the computer
bearing the IP address traced to Sherman Ryan and forwarded the materials to
the Louisville FBI. In addition, Ryan attempted to distribute child
pornography by placing images containing child pornography in a shared file
folder allowing them to be downloaded.
The FBI executed a search warrant at Ryan's residence in Louisville,
Kentucky, on August 26, 2008. Federal agents spoke with Ryan and he stated
that he had been looking at child pornography for the last two to three
years and that he had "a problem" regarding the viewing of child pornography
and looked at child pornography almost every day. Ryan also stated that
while he is on the computer, half the time is spent looking at child
pornography, the other half of the time he is looking at adult pornography.
Ryan also advised that he was the only person in the house using the
computer.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide
initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.
Led by the United States Attorney's Offices, 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
identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe
Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd and
it was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Could've been *SlaPPy.* SlaPPy's sentence was WAY too short. That's why
*SlaPPy* needs a lot of supervision these days. Maybe someday he'll get
hmiself off the Shitlist too, but don't bank on it.
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