Kentucky attorney general calls attention to new law on child exploitation

FRANKFORT, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — It’s not a comfortable topic, but it’s a real risk that state leaders want to stay on top of.

“If your kids are on these devices, you are throwing open the doors to your home, to the world,” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said Monday.

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Speaking not just as a prosecutor but as a parent, Coleman said he wanted to make clear just how easy it is to fall victim to online child predators. A new law recently took effect trying to close any loopholes for predators using artificial intelligence to make child porn or found possessing a child sex doll.

“These predators that use this technology, that use these dolls to accelerate their activity, they’re not just in the shadows. They are here,” Coleman said.

At a press conference in Kenton County, the attorney general applauded lawmakers for their work that’s already producing results. In the past month, a Metcalfe County man was charged with child sex crimes under the new law. Kenton County commonwealth’s attorney, Rob Sanders, said before now finding such a doll was an immediate red flag, but there was nothing the law could do.

“We had a problem in Kenton County. We had three individuals that had child-sized sex dolls shipped into our jurisdiction inside of about two years. And the problem was they weren’t illegal in and of themselves. Yet we were three for three in catching those individuals with child sexual assault material stored on their electronic devices,” Sanders said.

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The AG’s special victims unit, which investigates these crimes, has also brought on a K-9 detective, one of only four electronic service detection dogs in the state.

“Let’s say 100, but banker boxes, and you’re looking for something that’s the size of a microSD card. That dog can alert and tell you which box to look at,” Deputy Commissioner for Counter Exploitation Jeremy Murrell said.

The biggest message Coleman stressed to parents: be vigilant, especially online.

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