Christina Brook Mitchell (Photo: Pike County Detention Center)
PIKEVILLE, Ky. (February 14, 2020) - A Pikeville woman, Christina Brook Mitchell, 31, was sentenced on Friday to 420 months in federal prison, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell, for production and distribution of child pornography.
Mitchell previously admitted that she took explicit photographs of two minor female victims and sent the images via Facebook Messenger to Johnathan Manigault. Mitchell admitted that Manigault instructed her how to take the images and that she agreed to photograph additional underage victims for Manigault.
Manigault, Mitchell’s co-defendant, will be sentenced on April 10.
Under federal law, Mitchell must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for life.
Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and James Robert Brown, Special Agent in Charge for FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly made the announcement.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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.
The investigation was directed by the FBI. The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jenna Reed.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
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