A Lexington woman, Amy Lynn Cook, 38, has been sentenced to 276 months in prison for the production of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Gregory VanTatenhove delivered the sentence on Tuesday.
Cook's plea agreement revealed that law enforcement received a tip on December 1, 2023, identifying her as a Google user who uploaded child sexual abuse material. Further investigations found she had shared similar content on platforms like Facebook. During an interview with authorities, Cook confessed to selling sexually explicit images of minors online. Search warrants for her social media accounts and devices uncovered child pornography images, including those involving an infant produced by Cook. She admitted that someone requested the image online and paid her to produce and send it.
Federal law mandates that Cook serve at least 85 percent of her sentence. Upon release, she will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for life.
The sentencing was announced by Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Chief Lawrence Weathers of the Lexington Police Department.
The investigation was carried out by HSI and the Lexington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project aims to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while identifying and rescuing victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.