INDIANAPOLIS — United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced Monday that Jeremy Kelley, 41, of Attica was sentenced in federal court, by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, to 24 years in federal prison, after having previously pleaded guilty to charges of production and possession of child pornography.
“Kelley is a child predator who deliberately sought out a high school coaching position intentionally placing himself near children,” Minkler said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting individuals, like Kelley, who choose to sexually exploit children and who knowingly abuse positions of public trust.”
The investigation began Jan. 16, 2018, when the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office opened a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children CyberTip. Included in the tip were 18 images
depicting pre-pubescent females exposing their genitals, engaged in sex acts and erotic poses. These images were contained in a Dropbox account created by Kelley. In compliance with a search warrant executed by law enforcement, Dropbox provided detectives with a mass storage device, which contained more than 16,563 image and video files of mostly child pornography.
On June 29, 2018, following the execution of a search warrant at Kelley’s residence, Kelley consented to a search of his iPhone SE. Kelley admitted to receiving and possessing child pornography on his iPhone SE. The iPhone contained 451 videos and 27,000 images of mostly child pornography, including prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Additionally, agents discovered the e-mail address associated with Kelley’s Dropbox account and his Dropbox application.
Also during the search, law enforcement discovered files depicting a minor victim (victim 1) engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Kelley surreptitiously produced child pornography of minor victim 1 between in or about June 8, 2018, and June 18, 2018. Minor victim 1 was in Kelley’s care, custody and control at the time of the recordings. Kelley admitted that he produced child pornography of minor victim 1 because he had a sexual interest in minor victim 1, and that he collected, and distributed child pornography collection because he had a sexual interest in children.
Kelley was arrested July 1, 2018 by way of complaint and was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 21, 2018. Kelley worked as an assistant track coach at Attica High School at the time of his arrest.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
“This sentence should send a strong message to those who would perpetrate such heinous crimes against children — the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to work diligently to identify, investigate and prosecute those who engage in these illegal activities,” said Special Agent in Charge Grant Mendenhall, FBI Indianapolis.
“The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office appreciates the relationships we have with the FBI, NCMEC, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and all of our other law enforcement partners,” said Sheriff Ryan Needham. “We continually strive to make Montgomery County, and the state of Indiana, a better and safer place for our citizens, and making an arrest like this makes all of us safer.”
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany J. Preston, who prosecuted this case for the government, Kelley will serve 20 years supervised release following his prison sentence.
