Harlan Man Convicted of Production of Child Pornography

From the US Department of Justice -

Brandon Farley - HCDC

A Harlan, Ky., man was convicted on Thursday, September 4, 2025, by a federal jury in London for producing child pornography.

After 45 minutes of deliberation following a two-day trial, the jury convicted 42-year-old Brandon Farley of two counts of production of child pornography.

According to testimony at trial, Farley sexually abused a minor that was in his care and took photos of that abuse.

Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Olivia Olson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Division; and Col. Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police jointly announced the conviction.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and KSP. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Blankenship is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Farley is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2026. He faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. However, the Court must consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal sentencing statutes before imposing a sentence.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.