Eastern Kentucky woman sentenced after filming sexual abuse of 2 toddlers
A Pike County woman was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison after she pleaded guilty to filming the sexual abuse of two young children.
Pamela Denise Sargent, 45, of Kimper, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of felony production of child pornography. She filmed herself engaging in sexual activity with one toddler-aged boy and produced another video depicting two toddler-aged boys engaging in sexual activity with each other, according to the plea agreement.
She uploaded those videos and distributed them to a Missouri man where law enforcement discovered them in the course of another child-porn investigation, police said.
An attorney for Sargent filed a sentencing memorandum this week asking for leniency. He described her as someone with an IQ of 51 who lived a sheltered life. She feared the Missouri man would harm her and her family if she didn’t comply with his requests for sexually explicit material, according to the file.
The attorney sought a 15-year sentence, although Sargent was eligible to serve for up to 60 years behind bars.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Judge Karen Caldwell agreed to dismiss two counts of production of child porn against as agreed to by the government in the plea agreement, but sentenced her to 45 years over her attorneys objections.
“The conduct in this case represents a profound betrayal of one of society’s most basic duties — to protect its children,” said Jason Parman, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District in a statement. “Our office will zealously pursue anyone who exploits or endangers children, and we will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to bring offenders to justice. This prosecution underscores our unwavering resolve to safeguard the most vulnerable members of our community.”
The sentence is to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, according to court documents.
