Greenup County Man Sentenced for Receiving Child Pornography

ASHLAND, Ky. - A South Shore, Ky., man, Austin Hardin, 29, was sentenced on Tuesday, by U.S. District Judge David Bunning, to 84 months in prison, for receiving a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

According to his plea agreement, on August 3, 2023, law enforcement received information that Hardin had been engaged in sexual chatting with a person purporting to be a minor. When questioned about the situation, Hardin admitted to chatting with the person, but stated he believed the profile to be fake. Hardin also admitted that he had sexually explicit images of minors on his phone and proceeded to show law enforcement that he had a secret folder that contained multiple explicit images of minors that he had received using various social media and messaging applications. In total, over 600 images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were located on Hardin's cellphone.

Under federal law, Hardin 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 20 years.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief Kenneth Hudson, City of Russell Police Department; and Sheriff Matt Smith, Greenup County Sheriff's Office, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by HSI, City of Russell Police Department, and Greenup County Sheriff's Office. Forensic examination of Hardin's electronic devices was conducted by the Ashland Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is prosecuting 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.

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