Independence man gets 20 years for 'horrific' child pornography case

An Independence, Kentucky man was sentenced Monday to a prison term of 20 years for possession of child pornography, according to the Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office

Kenton County Circuit Judge Kate Molloy handed down the sentence to 21-year-old Emmanuel Curry, who pleaded guilty in April to 69 counts of possession of child pornography and a single count of tampering with physical evidence, prosecutor said.

The 20-year sentence is the maximum allowed under state law, prosecutors said in a news release.

Prosecutors say the investigation began after detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In February of last year, Kenton County police executed a search warrant on Curry's residence and seized all electronic devices from the home, prosecutors say. At the time, Curry denied any involvement.

However, Curry's father later told police his son had confessed to using the Bing search engine to upload and search for child pornography and that Curry used his phone to access it, according to a uniform citation.

While police searched his home, prosecutors say, Curry threw his phone out a window in an effort to hide it from police.

In court documents, prosecutors said 47 images and 22 videos of child pornography were located during a search of Curry's phone.

"I prosecute monsters every day, and have seen some horrific evidence over the years, but I've never seen anything this sick and twisted," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Emily Arnzen said in a statement.

Curry must serve 20% of his sentence or complete Kentucky's Sexual Offender Treatment Program before he's eligible for parole, prosecutors said.

Curry's attorney didn't immediately respond to an email from The Enquirer seeking comment.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Independence man gets 20 years for 'horrific' child pornography case