Previously-convicted KY sex offender gets prison time for sharing child porn online
An Eastern Kentucky man has been sentenced to more than 31 years in prison after he admitted to exchanging child pornography with others online, according to prosecutors.
Oscar Joshua Calhoun, 36, was sentenced by a federal judge in Pikeville Monday. Calhoun distributed numerous images of child porn, including images involving children who were under 12 years old, prosecutors said in a press release. Calhoun possessed 1,275 child porn images, according to court records.
Calhoun pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing child porn in May, according to court records. Under federal law, he’ll have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. That would be nearly 27 years.
An affidavit filed in federal court indicated that an undercover investigator discovered Calhoun was sending child pornography through instant messaging apps. He also indicated in instant messages that he’d sexually abused minors, according to the affidavit. Officials subpoenaed information for his phone line and his Snapchat account.
Investigators learned Calhoun had been previously arrested on child pornography charges in Illinois in 2016. He’s listed as a lifetime registrant in Kentucky’s sex offender database.
Calhoun was arrested in January 2020 in Jonestown, Pa., according to court records.
Calhoun’s charges specifically stemmed from images he sent in September and November 2019, according to court records. He was in a group chat with an undercover investigator and another individual who was in the United Kingdom, according to court records.
The man in the United Kingdom expressed interest in flying to the United States to sexually abuse a child and Calhoun expressed interest in joining him, according to court records. The two both sent child pornography in the group chat.
The man in the United Kingdom was arrested in London on Oct. 11, 2019, according to court records.
Investigators in Baltimore County also discovered another individual, Jordan Scrhiber, who had child porn files on his phone and alleged that he got them from someone on an instant messaging app. Calhoun was determined to be the sender of those files, according to court records.
“The defendant has taken full responsibility for his actions and is seeking a just and proper punishment that reflects the seriousness of his offense, yet showing that he deserves a second chance with this court,” Calhoun’s attorney wrote in court records prior to Calhoun’s sentencing.
Prosecutors argued that the material Calhoun sent to others was “sadistic.”
After serving his time in prison, Calhoun will be on supervised release for the rest of his life, according to court records. He also has to pay more than $15,000 in penalties.