Former Roswell Councilman Sentenced On Child Porn Charges

ROSWELL, GA — Former Roswell City Councilman Kent Igleheart has been sentenced on charges he produced, possessed and transmitted child pornography. Igleheart will serve 20 years in a federal prison in Massachusetts that specializes in the review and treatment of sex offenders, according to court documents.

Igleheart in January entered guilty pleas to four counts of producing child pornography, one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing the illegal material, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia previously said.

“Igleheart violated the public’s trust with his heinous conduct and possibly caused long-lasting harm to his victims” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “U.S. Judge District Judge Amy Totenberg described the defendant’s conduct as ‘taking a knife’ and ‘producing a deep wound in the lives of the four minors.’ Igleheart’s lengthy prison sentence reflects the seriousness of his exploitation of young girls for his sexual interest.”

Igleheart, 55, was arrested in October 2016 after DeKalb County police learned the 54-year-old was planning to meet a teenager for sex at a motel. According to prosecutors, the 17-year-old reached out in October 2016 to DeKalb County's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit to report she had been communicating online since she was 13 years old with someone who "portrayed himself to be 17 years old," federal prosecutors said.

The teen said she exchanged sexually graphic photos and had explicit conversations with this person. She later discovered the person she was communicating with was Igleheart, not the teenage boy depicted in the profile photo the former councilman used, the feds state.

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Igleheart, who admitted to exchanging sexually explicit photographs with the victim since she was 13, booked a hotel in DeKalb County on Oct. 20, 2016, with plans to engage in a sexual encounter with the teen. He was arrested when he arrived at Northlake Mall, a prearranged spot where he agreed to meet the teen. He resigned from his post on the Roswell City Council following his arrest and was later indicted on the charges.

"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."

DeKalb investigators and FBI agents searched Igleheart's phones and computers and found some of the photos the victim sent to the defendant "at his request." Those searches also uncovered that Igleheart referred to himself online as Kent Allen, where he posed as a boy between 14 and 17 years old and engaged in "sexually graphic communications with numerous teenage girls, some of whom were as young as 13 years old," the U.S. Attorney's Office added.

The former city councilman persuaded these girls to take photos of their genitals and record themselves engaging in sexual conduct and to send those images and videos to him via the internet, federal prosecutors said.

The FBI and DeKalb County Police Department investigated the case, and U.S. Assistant Attorneys Yonette Sam Buchanan and Richard S. Moultrie, Jr., prosecuted the case.

After he's released from prison, Igleheart will have to serve 10 years in probation. While on probation, Igleheart must take part in a mental health program (which would include a psychosexual evaluation and counseling), comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and refrain from using a public or private computer network that may provide him access to pornography or communication with anyone 21 or younger, among other restrictions.

Image via DeKalb County Jail