Oldham County man arrested on over 100 charges of child pornography

CRESTWOOD, Ky. (WAVE) - Police have arrested an Oldham County man accused of possessing dozens of images of child pornography on his cellphone.

Tyler Josephs, 25, was charged with 100 counts of possession of child pornography of a victim between 12 and 18 years old, one count of possession of child pornography of a victim 12 years old or under, as well as a count of distribution of child pornography, one count of use of a minor in a sex performance and one count of unlawful transaction with a minor.

Oldham County Police said the incidents occurred between Aug. 17 and Sept. 8, 2022.

Josephs’ complaint warrant said on Aug. 17, an FBI employee was contacted on the Kik messenger platform by a user named “daddytyler2020″ in response to an ad that was posted on a free online chat website.

The user, later identified as Josephs, insinuated he had a 7-year-old daughter and began asking for nude images of the FBI employee’s 7-year-old daughter.

The warrant states Josephs expressed interest in meeting up with the other user and her daughter to engage in sexual activity.

During the chat, Josephs is also stated to have sent a video of a female minor performing a sex act on an adult man.

FBI Louisville obtained a search warrant at Josephs’ address on Sept. 8, where during an interview with detectives, Josephs admitted to responding to the ad and speaking with the FBI employee.

Josephs admitted to requesting nude images of the alleged 7-year-old daughter, claiming “he was attempting to gather evidence in order to report the account,” according to the warrant.

Agents asked Josephs how many times he had engaged with others online to gain evidence and report them. He told police it was a handful of times and said he reported some accounts to a website he couldn’t remember the name of.

Josephs admitted he never reported anything to law enforcement.

In the warrant, Josephs also admitted to agents he had an interest in high school age girls “as young as 14 or 15,” and sexting younger girls on Snapchat he knew to be around 15 years old, exchanging nude photos with them.

He said he had child pornography stored in a secure photo on his cellphone, admitting to “about 100″ nude images and photos of younger females from pre-teen to high school age on his phone.

Police said Josephs stated he may have files of girls younger than 12 years old from other people who may have sent them to him online, but said “he tries not to save those.”

Review of the cellphone revealed numerous images and videos of what police said were minor females engaging in sex acts, located in the folder Josephs told agents about.

The video that Josephs sent the FBI employee through Kik was also located on his cell phone.

Josephs was arrested and booked in Oldham County Detention Center on Jan. 16.

He appeared in court on Jan. 17, where a judge placed his bond at $15,000.