Clark man pleads guilty to child porn possession

Published 12:09 pm Wednesday, January 9, 2019

A Winchester man pleaded guilty to multiple charges after asking a female juvenile to send him nude pictures of herself over social media.

Ryan W. Mayer, 22, of 714 Estes Drive, was indicted a year ago after police tracked the IP address from the Instagram account to Mayer’s residence.

Monday, Mayer pleaded guilty in Clark Circuit Court to tampering with physical evidence, use of electronic communication systems to procure a minor for sex and possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, which was amended from use of a minor in a sexual performance.

Email newsletter signup

The amendment was part of the plea agreement with prosecutors.

Prosecutors recommended Mayer serve one year for tampering and five years for use of a minor.

While those sentences would run consecutively, they would be concurrent with another year for possession. Mayer is scheduled to be sentenced March 21.

Mayer told Clark Circuit Judge Jean Chenault Logue he asked the minor to send him nude images of herself through Instagram. He also admitted to destroying one of the cell phones he was using when police arrived at his residence a year ago.

The investigation began in July 2017 after the juvenile’s parent reported the incident to Lexington Police, according to court records. After identifying the account, detectives accessed the account and found multiple images of what appeared to be nude female juveniles.

Winchester Police executed a search warrant at Mayer’s residence on Jan. 11, 2018. Officers found Mayer inside with a damaged cell phone near him and a piece of glass from the phone in his hand. In all, officers confiscated seven cell phones, three hard drives, two video cameras, two tablet computers and one laptop computer.

About Fred Petke

Fred Petke is a reporter for The Winchester Sun, the Jessamine Journal and the State Journal. His beats include cops, courts, fire, public records, city and county government and other news. To contact Fred, email fred.petke@bluegrassnewsmedia.com or call 859-759-0051.

email author More by Fred