Kentucky State Police thwart Woodford Co. child abuse sextortion scheme
VERSAILLES, Ky.- The Kentucky State Police joined multiple law enforcement agencies in the investigation that led to the sentencing of a Woodford County man for creating child pornography.
Austin David Stafford, 31, of Versailles, Ky., was sentenced to 540 months in prison on March 21 by U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves, following Stafford’s guilty plea to production of child sexual abuse material (also known as CSAM).
The sentence stems from two separate cases against Stafford.
Court documents say, Stafford and his co-defendant, Crystal Campbell (now deceased), used a minor to create CSAM. Police say evidence obtained through digital forensics revealed that Stafford distributed the illegal material twice via a social media platform.
According to his plea agreement, Stafford also created a fake internet persona, “Craig Wright,” to lure a minor victim into an online romance. Stafford used that online account, plus multiple others, to extort and coerce the victim to produce child pornography. The sextortion scheme led the victim to engage in sexual acts with Stafford and James Campbell, 26, of Versailles, Ky., by threatening to hurt her family if she did not comply. James Campbell is scheduled for sentencing on April 21.
Court documents show that law enforcement was first alerted to Stafford because of a victim’s father seeing photos that contained nude photos of the minor on her social media messaging platform.
This case was a joint effort involving the Kentucky State Police, the FBI Lexington Field Office, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Versailles Police Department, Anderson County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Former Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Heather Hubble. KSP’s specialized units, including the Intelligence Branch, Drug Enforcement and Special Investigations (DESI) and the Electronic Crime Branch, played a crucial role in the investigation.
