FRANKFORT, KY. – Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Cyber Crimes Unit have announced that a Hardin County man was arrested for possession of child pornography.
Anthony Kikta Jr., 38, of Radcliff was charged with 100 counts of possession of child pornography, Class D felonies, punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison.
This investigation began after Beshear’s Cyber Crimes Unit received a tip from the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office and the Hardin County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office about Kikta trading images of child pornography across the internet.
Investigators from the Attorney General’s office, alongside deputies from the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Kikta’s residence in Hardin County and located hundreds of images and videos depicting sexual abuse of children and infants.
Kikta is a registered sex offender stemming from a conviction of first-degree molestation of an 8-year-old girl in the state of Washington. Kikta moved from Washington to Kentucky in 2016.
“I appreciate the work of our cyber investigators, Hardin County Sheriff John Ward and his deputies and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Teresa Logsdon,” said Beshear. “Removing those who seek to exploit and abuse our children from the streets has been a top priority for my office, and for law enforcement agencies throughout the Commonwealth.”
The number of arrests, indictments and convictions by Beshear’s Department of Criminal Investigations cyber investigators totaled more than 65 in 2017.
Beshear’s office also works with Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky to help train parents, caregivers, advocates and law enforcement on how to make the internet safer for children and protect children from sexual abuse.
Beshear said that Kentuckians have a moral and legal duty to report any instance of child abuse to local law enforcement or to Kentucky’s Child Abuse hotline at 877-597-2331 or 877-KYSAFE1.
Child safety will continue to be of high importance for Beshear in 2018. His office has already provided key legislators with draft legislation for the upcoming session that would prevent registered sex offenders from accessing a commercial, social networking website.
