A Harrison man was sentenced Wednesday to 660 months imprisonment without the possibility of parole on two counts of sexually exploiting a minor via the production of child pornography.According to court documents, in July of 2023, a five-year old female disclosed to her mother that 32-year-old Aaron Micheal Ricketts had been sexually abusing her. The minor then disclosed in a forensic interview that Ricketts had also taken nude pictures of her. Law enforcement with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office later arrested Ricketts and seized his cellular phone. A forensic examination of the cellular phone revealed multiple sexually explicit images and videos documenting Rickett’s sexual abuse of the minor starting when she was four years old. At sentencing, the United States presented the Court with evidence Ricketts also distributed images of the minor on the internet and solicited images from other purported minors in exchange.
U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, and the Harrison Police Department investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Still prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing, which was held in the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
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