Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — A Wilkes-Barre man’s apology for sharing child sexual abuse images was not enough to keep him from state prison.
Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas sentenced Matthew Kennedy, 41, formerly of Blackman Street, to five-to-10 years in prison followed by 10 years probation on three counts of dissemination of images or videos of child sex acts. Kennedy pled guilty to the charges Jan. 21.
Kennedy was arrested in October 2023, by detectives with the district attorney’s office while investigating a Cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The Cyber tip involved images of child sexual abuse materials were downloaded and shared by an electronic device registered to Kennedy, according to court records.
Descriptions of graphic images involved girls as young as 5-years-old with files linked to a fraudulent modeling agency based in Ukraine, court records say.
Detectives in court records say the Cyber tip involved 42 images of child sexual abuse materials linked to Kennedy’s electronic device.
“I take responsibility for what I’ve done; there is no excuse for what I did,” Kennedy said prior to being sentenced.
Kennedy is subject to 25 years registration of his address under the state’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act. He was given credit for 562 days time served at the county correctional facility.