LONDON, Ky. — A Bell County man was sentenced yesterday to serve 20 years in prison for the possession and distribution of child pornography by United States District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves, after pleading guilty in December of last year.

Charles Michael Rochon, 39, admitted in the course of his guilty plea that from December of 2005 until about April of 2006, he knowingly distributed videos and images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct through either electronic mail or posting images and/or video on websites.

Rochon distributed multiple videos containing child pornography on a website created for the purpose of trading videos and images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Rochon also admitted to possessing over 400 videos and over 1000 images of child pornography.

Amul Thapar, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, was appreciative of the work done by the FBI, the Kentucky State Police and Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin May, in helping to put another child predator behind bars and under supervision for the rest of his life.

“These images of child exploitation are not of faceless victims,” Thapar said. “Each time a picture is created and/or traded, that is another instance of a child’s innocence being taken away.”

Under federal law, Rochon must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence and upon release, will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for the rest of his life.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kentucky State Police - Electronic Crimes Sections. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin J. May.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.