Franklin man sentenced to 60 years for child sexual exploitation offenses
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A Franklin man faces decades in prison after being sentenced Tuesday for multiple child exploitation offenses.
According to a release by the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Kentucky, 27-year-old Joseph Roush has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison, followed by a term of lifetime supervised release.
The sentencing is for one count of distribution of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of sexual exploitation of a child.
In addition, the release says Roush is ordered to pay $69,000 in restitution total, comprised of $3,000 going to each identified victim.
According to the release, over several years, Roush “possessed and distributed tens of thousands of images and videos containing child sexual abuse material.”
Investigators reportedly found around 20,000 images and videos across several devices, the release says.
The release further states that “Roush participated in the hands-on sexual exploitation of children in other countries via an online streaming platform and used a child entrusted to his care to produce images containing child sexual abuse material.”
United States Attorney Kyle Bumgarner stated, “While our prosecutors sadly see the worst in humanity, Roush stands out as particularly sadistic. Roush systematically abused and forever altered the lives of innocent children throughout the world. The destruction that Roush left in his wake cannot be overstated. His 60-year sentence is essentially a life sentence. My hope is he spends every last day of his life incarcerated and reflecting upon his despicable acts. And to every other pedophile out there, I hope that you look at Roush and immediately stop your immoral and horrific conduct because we will find you and you will spend the rest of your life in prison next to Roush.”
“I was impressed with the spirit of cooperation between our detective and the federal agents he worked with. The joint effort led to making our community a safer place,” stated Simpson County sheriff Jere Hopson.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by HSI and the Simpson County Sheriff’s Office.
