A Hopkinsville man has been arrested and charged with 68 counts of distribution of obscene matter more than one unit of matter following an investigation into internet crimes against children.
According to a news release from HPD, the Crime Suppression Unit arrested John “Jay” Smith on strength of a warrant for the 68 counts that came at the conclusion of an almost two-month long investigation. Smith has been arrested for sexual based offenses in the past in Ohio.
The Hopkinsville Police Department was assisted by the Ohio Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Kentucky State Police ICAC Task Force.
The Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is comprised of more than twenty-six local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the proliferation of child sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity of predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.