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Attorney General Jack Conway announced Thursday the conviction of a Berea man on child pornography and drug charges.

A Madison Circuit Court jury has found Gerald Jones guilty of 143 counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, one count of marijuana cultivation and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Jones will receive the maximum of 20 years to serve on all counts when he is formally sentenced on August 12.

“I appreciate the continued hard work of my Cybercrimes Unit as we crack down on Internet child pornography in Kentucky,” said Conway. “I would also like to thank Berea Police and the Madison County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the handling of this case.”

Investigators from Conway’s Cybercrimes Unit, with assistance from Berea Police, seized 103 videos and 40 images depicting child pornography after executing a search warrant at Jones’ residence in January 2009. Authorities also found marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
As a result of this investigation, Berea Police also charged Jones with first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy after investigators recovered a videotape depicting the alleged rape of a woman. Jones will plead guilty to amended charges in connection with the attack.

Since its creation in June 2008, Conway’s Cybercrimes Unit, a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, has seized nearly 70,000 child pornographic images from the Internet and investigated more than 100 child pornography cases in Kentucky.