Lexington man arrested by FBI, accused of asking mother for nude images of teen daughter
A Lexington man has been arrested after a lengthy FBI investigation and now faces allegations that he asked a mother in Virginia to send him nude photos of her 14-year-old daughter.
According to court documents, the FBI alleges that between April 4, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2022, Zachary Knight, 42, attempted to produce child pornography by having someone of the initials of M.S. send him photos of her 14-year-old daughter, described as V1 in a criminal complaint. Knight also is accused of trying to persuade, induce, entice or coerce minors between 12 and 13 years old to engage in sexual activity.
Court documents say the minors lived with M.S. during the time frame of the incidents.
The FBI became aware of the illegal activity in mid-October 2021 after receiving a tip from the FBI Richmond Virginia Division. The division was conducting a separate investigation into another man, who was in a romantic relationship with M.S. and possessed a nude image of V1.
The FBI conducted a search warrant at the home of M.S. in Barboursville, Va., two months prior and subsequently interviewed M.S., according to court documents. During the interview, M.S. told an FBI agent that another man, later revealed to be Knight, had requested nude images of her 14-year-old daughter.
Knight engaged in sexual conversations about the 14-year-old girl with M.S. on Facebook for roughly 19 months, court documents say. During that span, the thread contained over 1,500 pages of conversations.
The conversations varied from requesting nude images of the 14-year-old girl, offering to teach her sex education, mailing M.S. lingerie and sex toys for her daughters and asking M.S. to take pictures of her minor daughter in lingerie.
Court records also say Knight communicated with the 14-year-old girl directly via FaceTime calls and text messages.
Court documents say Knight and M.S. worked with each other between 2015-2020, in which Knight was her boss. Both have since been fired from that employment.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 10:47 AM.
