A Lexington man has pleaded guilty to federal charges of sex-related crimes, and admitted to investigators he was a part of and contributed to 30 online communities which traded sexually explicit images of minors.
Mayank M. Patel, of Lexington, accepted a plea agreement in U.S. Eastern District Court to one count of producing visual depictions involving a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and one count of distributing and producing visual depictions.
On Jan. 23, 2023, members of the Electronic Crime Branch with Kentucky State Police went to Patel’s home because he was suspected of distributing and possessing explicit material when his phone number was found on dozens of online communities tied to child sex abuse, according to court documents.
Patel gave officers permission to search his electronics, including an iPhone and Apple MacBook where officers found videos and photos depicting obscene material and harm to young children, according to court documents.
Patel admitted to investigators that he created explicit images and videos with a victim who was 7 years old at the time, according to court documents. He told investigators all the images were produced using his cell phone.
He also admitted to investigators he distributed graphic images images that involved minors in the trading communities in exchange for memberships to other online sites.
According to court documents, one site Patel used was a “secure chat platform.” The site was not named in court records but was instead referred to as “Chat Application A.” Chats on the application were protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning only the sender and receiver of a chat have access to the content, and nothing is stored on any servers once delivered.
“Communities” are larger groups included in chats and made up of people who typically do not know one another and can have unlimited members. According to court documents, Patel was a member of 30 private communities and at least one private group for at least three months, and a member of other private groups for an unknown length of time.
For both convictions together, Patel faces a maximum of 50 years in prison, $500,000 in fines and supervised release between 10 years and life.