Former city councilman for metro-Atlanta city convicted of producing child porn
A former Roswell, Ga., city council member was convicted Monday after pleading guilty to four counts of producing child pornography, one count of receiving child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak announced in a release.
Kent Igleheart, 54, was arrested in late 2016 after police met him at a mall where he allegedly intended to meet a young girl he met online for sex, officials said.
Police were first tipped off when a victim, identified as E.B., contacted the DeKalb County Internet Crimes Against Children Unit to report she had been communicating with a man online since she had been 13 years old. She had thought the man was a 17-year-old boy named Kent Allen, but it was actually Igleheart, officials said.
E.B. told investigators she had exchanged graphic photographs and had graphic sexual conversations with the individual. Investigators arrested Igleheart and seized his phones and computers after he arrived at a mall to meet up with the girl and take her to a hotel room to have sex, police said.
Searches of the electronics revealed Igleheart had been in conversation with numerous girls, some as young as 13, and persuaded them to take explicit photographs and videos and send them to him, police said. During these conversations, police said he would pose as a teenage boy between 1 4 and 17 years old.
“By persuading his minor victims to create and share graphic images of themselves online, Igleheart has caused these children to suffer ongoing and irreparable harm,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “No one expects to see a community leader behave in this kind of heinous manner, and this betrayal of public trust underscores the need for parents to remain aware of how their children are using the internet and social media.”
The case was investigated by the Dekalb County Police Department and the FBI.
“There is no sentence that can lessen the harm that has been caused to these young children, but at least this suspect will be stopped from pursuing his egregious acts,” said David J. LeValley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “Unfortunately, this is another stark reminder to parents to be extremely vigilant when their children go online and use social media.”
Igleheart's sentencing hearing is scheduled for late March.
This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Former city councilman for metro-Atlanta city convicted of producing child porn."