LEXINGTON Ky. – A Virgie, Ky., man, Charles Hopkins, 35, was sentenced on Tuesday to 80 months by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell for possession of child pornography.On May 6, 2025, law enforcement received a tip that a sexually explicit video of a minor victim (who was under the age of 12) was uploaded to Hopkins’ internet-based Verizon cloud storage account. Law enforcement seized and searched Hopkins’ phone and discovered additional child pornography, including images depicting minors under the age of 12 and infants engaged in sexual activity. Jason Parman, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and Olivia Olson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly announced the sentence.Under federal law. Hopkins 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 15 years. The investigation was conducted by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Blankenship prosecuted 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.– END –
Source: U.S. Department of Justice