Caine D. Carter, a 30-year-old Covington resident, will serve 20 years of a 1,760-year prison sentence for the possession of materials depicting sex acts against children found on his computer following a tip from a local business.
In spite of the long official sentence, Kentucky law caps the number of years Carter will serve at 20.
Carter was sentenced on Jan. 13, following a trial that began in early December. Carter was caught after he brought his computer to a repair shop, according to an announcement from the Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders’ office.
The business was not named in the announcement; however, one of the technicians found the offending materials and notified Covington Police on April 18. “Subsequent forensic examination of Carter’s computer identified over 1,000 saved images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexual performances across the computer’s multiple hard drives,” according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Carter was charged with 177 counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor, a felony. “175 of the files depicted children under 12 years old, with some being as young as infants and toddlers,” according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney. The jury found Carter guilty of all 177 counts.
Following the passage of the so-called “Safer Kentucky Act,” similar offenses in the future will have a sentencing cap of 70 years. The act went into effect on July 15, 2024, after Carter was reported, so the earlier 20-year cap stayed in effect for his sentencing.