Lexington man who made, distributed child porn sentenced to 40 years in federal prison
A Central Kentucky man was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for the production and distribution of child pornography after thousands of explicit images of children were found on his phone.
Justin Tyler Ainslie, 25, of Lexington, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell. He pleaded guilty in March 2022, according to the Department of Justice.
Ainslie used a phone line and Google account to upload images of child sexual abuse to cloud-based storage, according to a federal affidavit.
Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., a company that provides storage services to Verizon customers, first noticed the images in May 2020. The company reported the images to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
According to the Department of Justice, in June 2020, the Lexington Police Department received two cyber-tips about Ainslie uploading child sexual abuse material to social media platforms.
A search of Ainslie’s residence resulted in the seizure of multiple electronic devices that contained 11,524 images and 1,501 videos of child sexual abuse material.
According to the Department of Justice, the production charge was based upon a review of Ainslie’s phone that revealed photos Ainslie admitted to taking. The photos depicted child sexual abuse material of minor girls.
Ainslie was originally indicted in the Eastern District of Kentucky for the distribution of child pornography charge and then charged in the Western District of Kentucky for production of child pornography. Ainslie consented to a transfer of the Western District charges to the Eastern District for his guilty plea and sentencing.
Under federal law, Ainslie must serve 85% of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life. Additionally, Ainslie will be required to pay $138,500 in restitution.
