NKY man receives maximum sentence for collection of ‘horrific’ pornography

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KENTON COUNTY, Ky. (WXIX) - An Independence man has been sentenced for possession a collection of child pornography that investigators say included videos showing violence committed against adults and animals.

Joshua Caldwell received 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence he could have received, on Monday.

Prosecutors called the collection “horrific,” saying Caldwell had some of the worst materials they’ve dealt with.

“The only thing worse than seeing child pornography is hearing it,” Kenton County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Emily Arnzen said Tuesday.

Caldwell, 41, pleaded guilty to several child pornography charges in court.

“The judge said when she sentenced him, ‘This is so horrific, there’s no option than to give him the maximum sentence,’” Arnzen said.

Arnzen, who prosecuted the case, says the investigation started as a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She says Caldwell got caught after uploading two videos to a Google Photos account.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children then called Kenton County police. Investigators traced the IP address to Caldwell’s home and found more images.

“There were hundreds, if not thousands, of images and videos of child pornography in the Google Photos account,” Arnzen said.

Arnzen says they don’t know how Caldwell got the images but says many of the videos were extremely violent and showed young children.

“The videos he was collecting were horrific.... they stick with you,” Arnzen said.

The collection also included bestiality, according to the assistant commonwealth’s attorney.

“There were depictions of adults being physically injured and videos of animals being physically injured,” Arnzen said, “So all of that added another layer of violence to what he was doing.”

Prosecutors say they don’t have any indication Caldwell ever himself touched children or created child porn.

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