Lexington man facing federal charges after thousands of child pornography images found
A Lexington man is facing federal charges of receiving and distributing child pornography after a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children led investigators to thousands of explicit images of children on his cellphone.
Justin Tyler Ainslie was identified as the user of a phone line and Google account that uploaded images of child sexual abuse to cloud-based storage, according to a federal affidavit. The images were noticed in May of 2020 by Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., and the company, which provides storage services to Verizon customers, reported the images to the Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Lexington police were notified and obtained search warrants for the Synchronoss account, Google account and Verizon phone number connected to the tip, according to the affidavit. The investigators learned that the accounts were owned by Ainslie.
Police executed a search warrant at Ainslie’s Lexington home on Nov. 10, 2020, and seized multiple electronic devices. On the same day, Lexington police arrested Ainslie on a state charge of possession or viewing of child pornography, according to the affidavit.
Ainslie admitted to Lexington police detectives that he’d viewed, downloaded and possessed child pornography and that he’d sent, received and viewed child pornography using social media platforms like KIK, according to court records.
Ainslie’s bond was set at $10,000, which was paid and Ainslie was released, according to court records.
On June 21, 2021, a special agent with Homeland Security and a Lexington police detective reviewed evidence found on Ainslie’s cellphone and KIK account. The analysis found about 11,524 image files and 1,501 video files of suspected child sexual abuse, according to the federal affidavit.
Ainslie is set to have his first court appearance on the federal charges Wednesday.
