By Tonia Noe, staff writer
May 13, 2009 — One local detective, who helped in the investigation to take down Chad B. Stafford, is pleased to find out the convicted felon will spend the next 12 and one-half years behind bars as punishment for his addiction to child pornography.
Lt. David Sexton with the Morehead Police said he hopes Stafford’s conviction will be an example to others.
“I think it’s a good thing that he will spend the next 151 months in prison,” Sexton commented Wednesday. “Maybe people will realize that you can’t do this and get away with it. And maybe it will make our city a little safer.”
The case began when an FBI undercover investigation in Houston revealed that Stafford was downloading images of child pornography.
Stafford, 36, a former child psychologist in Menifee County, was charged with seven counts of knowingly receiving child pornography in interstate commerce and one charge of knowingly possessing visual depictions of children engaged in sexual acts that had been shipped in interstate commerce. He pleaded guilty to one charge.
Stafford was employed at Pathways while working as a counselor for children in first through 12th grades.
It was acknowledged that some of the images included children between the ages of 4 to 6 years old, with two of the photos depicting acts of incest.
During the investigation, a nude Barbie doll was discovered in Stafford’s motel room in Ashland. The doll’s arms, legs and neck had been tied.
During a search warrant procedure at Stafford’s home, agents found more than 900 images of child pornography, including images of nude mannequins.
During Monday’s sentencing hearing in Covington, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Stafford to be under lifetime supervision by parole officers once he is released from prison.
He also will have to obey limitations on computer usage and interaction with children.
Although, it was discovered Stafford secretly photographed children from inside his home and at track meets, his counsel argued that Stafford never had any inappropriate contact with children through his work.
Sexton believes Stafford was just “biding his time” before something worse happened.
The FBI, Kentucky State Police and the Morehead Police Department conducted the investigation preceding the indictment.
