Man with repeated sex crimes sentenced to 15 years

CATLETTSBURG A 28-year-old man previously given probation for possessing child pornography received a prison sentence after he was charged, yet again, for possessing sexual images of children under the age of 12.

Last September, Henry D. Hampton, of Catlettsburg, was indicted by a Boyd County grand jury on 20 total counts of possessing matter portraying sexual performances by minors and has been held in the Boyd County Jail ever since.

After accepting Hampton’s guilty plea to all 20 counts in February, Boyd Circuit Judge George Davis rendered Hampton his final sentence on Friday.

Possessing such matter is a class C felony in the state of Kentucky, carrying a maximum punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

In accordance with Hampton’s plea to the maximum sentence, Judge Davis sentenced Hampton to 10 total years for each of the 20 charges.

Hampton’s attorney, Michael Curtis, declined to give any final comments on behalf of Hampton, however when Davis asked if the prosecution had any final statements, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Conn reminded the court Hampton was on probation for a previous case and it would need to be revoked.

According to online jail records, Hampton was booked into Greenup County Detention Center in March 2018 on charges of possessing or viewing child sexual abuse materials and using electronic means to procure a minor for sexual purposes.

Those charges appear to have resulted in a five-year probation period, meaning if Hampton were to slip up, as he did, he would have to serve that five-year sentence in prison, instead.

Curtis agreed the probation would need to be revoked, and it had to be served consecutively to the 10-year sentence handed down on Friday.

In addition to having to register as a sex offender, Hampton was sentenced to 15 total years for both cases.