FLORENCE – A Florence man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of child exploitation, Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced.
According to Fitch’s office, Kevin Wayne Owen, 47, was sentenced May 19 by Rankin County Circuit Court Judge Dewey Arthur.
Owen was sentenced to 40 years, with 15 years to serve day for day without the possibility of parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He will also serve 25 years on probation.
Fitch’s office said the case was investigated and prosecuted by the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and began through an undercover operation.
“Our team of investigators and prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Office is committed to protecting our children and making the Internet a safer place,” Fitch said. “AGO investigators uncovered Owen’s cache of child sex abuse material and the secret cameras he used to create it pursuant to an undercover operation and AGO prosecutors took the case to court. We will always seek justice for our children.”
Owen was ordered to pay $1,000 to the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund, $1,000 to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund and $1,000 to the Mississippi Crime Victim Compensation Fund.
He must also register as a sex offender.
Anyone with information about a child being sexually exploited online is asked to report it to 1-800-843-5678 or online at cybertipline.org. The hotline is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
