Evergreen Reporter

On August 21, 2024, Ronnie Joe Maples, 47, of Sevierville, Tennessee, was sentenced to 151 months in prison by United States District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. Following his incarceration, Maples will be on lifetime supervised release and will be required to register with state sex offender registries and comply with special sex offender conditions.

As part of a plea agreement filed with the court, Maples pled guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2).

According to documents filed in the case, Maples and another individual discussed actively molesting children and producing child pornography on the internet. During these discussions, Maples received child pornography from this individual. In November 2022, the individual began cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Secret Service (USSS). Law enforcement subsequently obtained a search warrant for Maples’ Facebook account and cellular phone, which confirmed that he had received child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III and FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico made the announcement.

The criminal information was the result of an investigation by the FBI and USSS.

Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Kolman represented the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, visit www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on "resources."

###