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Northern Kentuckians among 10 arrested for child porn, solicitation in Operation Shielded Child probe


Attorney General Andy Beshear Monday announced 10 individuals, including three from Northern Kentucky, have been arrested and charged with more than 400 felony counts of possessing child pornography or soliciting a minor.

The arrests are part of a nine-county child predators roundup by the Attorney General’s office.

At the request of local law enforcement, Beshear’s Cyber Crimes Unit over the last several weeks expanded its online child protection and law enforcement efforts in Allen, Boone, Franklin, Garrard, Hardin, Jessamine, Kenton, Scott and Shelby counties.

Northern Kentuckians arrested and charge include:

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Northern Kentuckians, Scott Hardesty, 47, of Independence, Phillip Farley, 45, of Walton and Barry Moravec, 63, of Burlington were among those arrested and charged in Operation Shielded Child (provided photos).

*   Boone County: Investigators arrested Barry Moravec, 63, of Burlington, and charged him with 25 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
* Boone County: Investigators arrested Phillip Farley, 45, of Walton, and charged him with 20 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
*   Kenton County: Investigators arrested Scott Hardesty, 47, of Independence, and charged him with four counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.

The 10-day operation, called Operation Shielded Child, involved cyber-crime investigators from the Attorney General’s Office investigating individuals who possess and distribute child pornography and those who solicit minors for sex online.

The AG’s team was assisted by the Kentucky State Police, Homeland Security Investigations and the police departments in Georgetown, Frankfort, Lancaster, Nicholasville and Shelbyville. The investigation utilized technical resources of the Child Rescue Coalition. There is one case from the investigation still pending.

Others arrested and charged include:

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10 men from across Kentucky were arrested and charged as part of Attorney General Andy Beshear’s Operation Shielded Child Investigation (click to enlarge).

*   Allen County: Investigators arrested William Crowe and charged him with 100 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
*   Franklin County: Investigators arrested Douglas Ray Judy, 33, of Frankfort, and charged him with one count of prohibited use of an electronic communications system to procure a minor for sex, a Class D felony, and two counts of violating his conditions as a registered sex offender in Kentucky, a Class C felony.
*   Garrard County: Investigators arrested Eddie Rowe, 53, of Lancaster, and charged him with 100 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
*   Hardin County: Investigators arrested Eric Easley, 47, of Vine Grove, and charged him with 40 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
*   Jessamine County: Investigators arrested Daniel Rike, 34, of Nicholasville, and charged him with 100 counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony, and one count of distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.
*   Scott County: Investigators arrested David Dunn, 58, of Dayton, Ohio and charged him with one count of prohibited use of an electronic communications system to procure a minor for sex, a Class D felony. He traveled to Georgetown where he was arrested.
*   Shelby County: Investigators arrested Gary Stoops, 32, of Shelbyville, and charged him with four counts of possession of a matter portraying the sexual performance by a minor, a Class D felony.

Operation Shielded Child cases will be handled by local county prosecutors.

In July, Beshear joined the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office to announce the arrest of two men following his office’s first regional sting targeting child predators.

The work of the Cyber Crimes Unit, a division of the Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in the Office of the Attorney General, is part of Beshear’s core mission to keep sexual predators away from Kentucky’s children.

“I would like to thank my team, KSP, the federal office of Homeland Security Investigations and the many local police departments for helping to make Operation Shielded Child a success,” Beshear said. “It’s a core mission of my office to ensure our communities are safe, and we will continue to work vigorously with local law enforcement to stop online sexual predators from victimizing our children.”

Since taking office Jan. 4, Beshear’s Cyber Crimes Unit has arrested or convicted 42 sexual predators. Beshear’s office is on pace to more than triple the number of child sex offenders arrested.

Beshear said Kentuckians have a moral and legal responsibility to report instances of cyber crime to his office by calling 866-524-3672 or emailing DCIForce@ky.gov.

Information may be shared anonymously.

Commonwealth of Kentucky, Office of the Attorney General


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