Nicholasville Man Sentenced for Receiving Child Pornography

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Nicholasville, Ky., man, Darren Michael Ruble, 30, was sentenced to 240 months of imprisonment on Monday, by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, for receiving child pornography.

According to his plea agreement, law enforcement received information regarding an individual that was sending money via PayPal, to an account associated with selling and live streaming child pornography. Law enforcement discovered Ruble, a registered sex offender, was the owner of that account. On October 17, 2023, law enforcement interviewed Ruble and he admitted to purchasing, accessing, and receiving images of child pornography. Law enforcement then reviewed Ruble's cell phones and located over 200 images and 250 videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Ruble further admitted that he was previously convicted of the following, in Indiana: sexual misconduct with a minor (attempt to commit), in December 2015; two counts of possession of child pornography, in July 2014; and sexual misconduct with a minor, in March 2014.

Under federal law, Ruble 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 25 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); Col. Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police; and Sheriff Mike Coyle, Madison County Sheriff's Office, jointly announced the guilty plea.

The investigation was conducted by HIS, KSP, and Madison County Sheriff's Office. 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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