Kentucky man gets 25-year prison sentence for using ‘spy cameras’ to produce child porn
A Pike County man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on Wednesday after he’d previously pleaded guilty to producing child pornography, according to court records.
Edward Leonidas Lewis, 54, pleaded guilty earlier this year after law enforcement found images of child pornography on four different electronic devices in his possession in February 2021. Lewis admitted to using “spy cameras,” hidden in bathrooms and bedrooms of his residences, to produce child pornography images of a victim, according to court records.
When investigators spoke with Lewis, he told them he accessed the “dark web,” but denied having any child sexual exploration material, according to court documents.
He consented to a search of his electronic devices including a cell phone, laptop computer, two flash drives, and two “spy cameras,” according to court documents.
Lewis was previously convicted in Franklin County on four counts of child pornography possession in May 2013.
Lewis pleaded guilty to the federal charge in March 2022.
Under federal law, Lewis must serve 85% of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, U.S. attorney for the eastern half of Kentucky; Jerry Templet, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations; and Colonel Phillip Burnett, Jr., commissioner of Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigations and State police. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Marye.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
