LEXINGTON, KY — The U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky reports that a Lexington man, Mayank Patel, 58, was sentenced on Monday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, to 38 years in federal prison, for production and distribution of child pornography.
According to his plea agreement, Patel admitted producing images and videos of himself sexually assaulting a minor victim and possessing those depictions on his electronic devices. Patel also admitted to being a part of at least 30 online communities that specifically existed to receive and distribute child sexual abuse material. Patel received, distributed, and possessed hardcore and violent child sexual abuse material that included serious bodily harm to infants as part of his participation in these various online communities.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Phillip J. Burnett, Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police (KSP); and Chief Lawrence Weathers, Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentencing.
Under federal law, Patel 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.
The investigation was conducted by HSI, KSP, and the Lexington Police Department. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth.
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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