CINCINNATI, Ohio — A Paintsville man who pleaded guilty to producing child pornography for secretly recording a teenage girl while she showered and changed is now appealing the sentence he received.

Henry Jonathan Ritscher, 44, pleaded guilty in federal court to producing child porn back in January. Last month, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

On Thursday, that appeal was filed in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.Under the terms of his plea agreement, Ritscher is barred from appealing his guilty plea or conviction, and he can only appeal his sentence.

During his sentencing, Ritscher had objected to elements of his pre-sentencing report, including enhancements for abusing a position of trust, obstruction and engaging in a pattern of criminal sexual activity. Any of those objections could have reduced his sentence if granted, but all were denied.

Ritscher is currently being held in the Grayson County Detention Center, in Leitchfield.

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ASHLAND, Ky. — A Paintsville man who admitted to secretly recording an underage guest while she showered and changed was ordered to serve 25 years in prison during his sentencing hearing on Friday.

Henry Jonathan Ritscher, 44, pleaded guilty in January to a federal charge of producing child pornography. In doing so, he admitted to recording the girl, who was a distant relative of his wife’s who would occasionally come to visit.

The crime was discovered when the girl accompanied Ritscher to pick up pizza on Sept. 6. While Ritcher went inside to get the food, the girl stayed in the car and used his phone while waiting. It was on that phone that she discovered a video of herself.

Following an investigation by Paintsville Police, Ritscher made a full confession to police, saying he had been recording the girl, who was 15 at that time, for about a year-and-a-half.

Character letters written by Ritscher’s sisters say the hidden cameras had originally been installed so he could keep an eye on his wife and autistic son while he was away from home working as a truck driver.

In addition to his sentence, he must participate in a sex offender treatment program while in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years after his release.

Ritscher was taken into custody immediately after Friday’s hearing.

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LONDON, Ky. — A Pike County man charged with possession of child porn back in February has now seen his case bumped up to federal court.

Terry Weston Rogers, 29, of Pikeville, was arrested Feb. 26 after police discovered more than 1,000 images of child porn on his phone.

He now faces a federal charge of possession of child porn, the same charge he faced in Pike Circuit Court. The key difference between the two cases is that his potential sentence in the state case would have topped out at 10 years, but the federal penalty can be twice as long.

Rogers had been held in the Pike County jail until Wednesday, when he was released on a surety bond. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has asked the judge to issue a new warrant for his arrest.

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HAZARD, Ky. — A Perry County woman has been arrested on child porn charges, following an investigation by the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch.

Megan Combs, 36, of Hazard, is charged with four counts possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor younger than 12. The charge is a felony, punishable by 1-to-5 years in prison.

KSP says it began investigating Combs after discovering she had been sharing images online. Police executed a search warrant at her home on Monday, seizing electronic equipment believed to be used in the crime.

Combs is being held in the Kentucky River Regional Jail in Hazard.

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LONDON, Ky. — A Pike County man with a history of sex crimes against children has been indicted on federal child porn charges.

A federal grand jury indicted Gary Don Hampton, 49, of Virgie, on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.

Hampton was first arrested and charged in Pike Circuit Court with 20 counts of possession of child porn back in September 2023. That case was dismissed when Hampton was not indicted, due to being extradited to South Carolina, where he faced a charge of criminal solicitation of a minor. He ultimately pleaded guilty in that case, receiving a five-year sentence.

His profile on the Kentucky Sex Offender Registry has his current address as a prison in South Carolina.

He also pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual abuse and indecent exposure in Letcher County back in 2018, in a case involving a 13-year-old victim. He received a nine-month sentence in that case.

Hampton now faces up to 20 years in prison on the federal charges.

No hearings have yet been set in his case.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Pike County woman has pleaded guilty to producing child porn.

Pamela Denise Sargent, 45, of Kimper, was charged with four counts of producing child pornography. In Lexington federal court on Friday, she pleaded guilty to two of those charges, in exchange for the other two being dropped.

In her plea agreement, she admitted to producing a sexually explicit video of herself with a toddler-aged boy and another of two toddler-aged boys with each other.

Sargent will now face between 15 and 30 years in prison when she is sentenced July 9.

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LONDON, Ky. — A Pike County man accused of possessing child porn has seen his federal trial date delayed more than two months.

Charles Michael Hopkins, 34, of Virgie, is charged with possession of child porn, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Police raided Hopkins’ home back in October, when they seized several electronic devices.

When they interviewed Hopkins afterwards, he first told them he was sent images by a person he met online. He said he deleted the images after discovering they were child porn.

However, court records say he later told police that he had saved some child porn images involving infants that he had received previously, but said it was only because he liked the adults in the images. He also reportedly admitted to sending child porn to others as a way to start conversations, but maintained that he never produced any of the images.

Hopkins was scheduled to go on trial April 6, but last week his attorney asked for a delay due to a scheduling conflict and to give Hopkins time to receive and consider a proposed plea agreement.

The judge agreed and reset the trial to June 22.

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ASHLAND, Ky. — A Pike County man has pleaded guilty in a federal child porn case that officials say involved thousands of images.

Michael Wayne Hilliary, 58, of McCarr, pleaded guilty Monday to possessing child porn.

Hilliary was arrested May 15, after police with a search warrant raided his home and found 20 pictures and videos of child porn on his computer. Later, a forensic examination of the computer revealed more than 10,000 pornographic files children, as well as 41,000 other “files of interest.” Some of the children in the files were as young as toddlers.

Because the victim in the case was younger than 12, Hilliary faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced July 31.

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LOUISA, Ky. — A Lawrence County man has been arrested on multiple counts related to child pornography.

The Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch began investigating Christopher Alan Price, 26, of Louisa, on suspicion that he was distributing child porn images online. That led to police obtaining a search warrant Thursday for Price’s home, where they seized equipment believed to facilitate the crime.

As a result of the investigation, Price was arrested and charged with:

• One count of first-degree sodomy
• 25 counts of promoting a minor under 16 in a sexual performance
• 20 counts of possession child porn of victim under 12
• Eight counts of distributing child porn of a victim under 12
• Nine counts of sexual crimes against an animal

All of the charges are felonies, with the sodomy and sexual performance charges carrying the longest potential sentence at 10-to-20 years in prison.

Price is being held in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville.

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LONDON, Ky. — A signed copy of the plea agreement in a Pike County woman’s child porn case details the charges to which she will be pleading and what she is admitting.

Pamela Denise Sargent, 45, of Kimper, is charged with four counts of producing child pornography. As reported on Wednesday, she has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

A copy of her signed plea agreement indicates she will plead guilty to two of the charges in exchange for the other two being dropped. She also admits to producing videos in December of 2023 and June of 2024.

The agreement describes one of the videos as showing her engaging in sexual activity with a toddler-aged boy. The other video is described as her directing two toddler-aged boys to engage in sexual activity with each other.

The charges carry a prison sentence of between 15 and 30 years.

Sargent is scheduled to appear in Lexington federal court March 20 to enter her plea.

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