Ripley Ridenour, 55, of Jacksonville pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to receiving images of child pornography over the Internet. Ridenour faces a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum of 20 years. A sentencing date for Ridenour has not yet been set.
According to court documents and Ridenour’s plea agreement, in early 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating the use of chat rooms to transport and receive child pornography over the Internet.
Agents identified Ridenour’s computer as having numerous child pornography images available for downloading over the Internet. On May 4, 2010, the FBI contacted Ridenour regarding the investigation, and an eventual search of Ridenour’s computer revealed more than 200 images and 11 videos of child pornography.
The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Innocent Images Task Force.
