Lexington Man Sentenced for Receiving Child Pornography

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lexington man, and former active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., Ethan McManus-Sanning, 21, was sentenced on Monday, by Chief U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves, to 85 months in prison, for receiving child pornography.

According to his plea agreement, law enforcement received information that McManus-Sanning sent money, via PayPal, to an account selling child pornography. In April 2023, McManus-Sanning was interviewed, and he admitted to purchasing, accessing, viewing, and receiving images of child pornography using the internet. Specifically, McManus-Sanning confirmed he was part of multiple groups on the internet where child pornography would be advertised, and he would direct message the seller to purchase the material. Law enforcement reviewed his phone and found over 500 images and 75 videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Under federal law, McManus-Sanning must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; and Rana Saoud, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by HSI and the Army Criminal Investigation Division, Ft. Campbell. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Roth is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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