A 33-year-old man from Hyden, Kentucky, will spend the next 15 years in federal prison following a sentencing hearing for attempted production of child pornography. Chief U.S. District Judge David Bunning handed down the 180-month sentence to Finley Wooton, marking the conclusion of a case that began with a series of digital messages sent nearly three years ago.
Court documents and plea agreements reveal that the investigation focused on an April 10, 2023, Facebook Messenger interaction.
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During that exchange, Wooton contacted a minor and shared sexually explicit imagery while simultaneously pressuring the victim to send similar material back to him. Federal authorities noted that Wooton’s use of the social media platform was a deliberate attempt to persuade a minor to engage in the creation of illegal content.
The sentence comes with strict requirements under federal guidelines. Because there is no parole in the federal system, Wooton is mandated to serve at least 85 percent of his 15-year term behind bars. Once he completes his physical prison sentence, he will not be fully free; the court has ordered a decade of supervised release, during which time he will be monitored by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case was a collaborative effort between multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI’s Louisville Field Division and the Kentucky State Police. The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Blankenship.
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Officials, including First Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul McCaffrey and KSP Commissioner Col. Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., jointly announced the sentencing as part of a broader crackdown on digital exploitation.
This prosecution falls under the umbrella of Project Safe Childhood. Launched by the Department of Justice in 2006, the initiative aims to pool local and federal resources to track down individuals using the internet to exploit children. By focusing on these digital footprints, the program seeks to identify victims and provide a unified front against online abuse.
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