Friday, July 8th, 2022
Armstrong sentenced to 8 years for child porn
By William Kincaid
TOLEDO - A 51-year-old former Parkway school board member and Rockford mayor on Thursday was sentenced to eight years in prison for receipt and distribution of child pornography.
Jeffrey Armstrong was also sentenced to ten years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $5,000 Justice for Victims Trafficking Act assessment and $100 fine, according to a public affairs officer with United States Attorney's Office.
Judge James R. Knepp II handed down the sentence in U.S. District Court's Northern District of Ohio in Toledo. Armstrong had faced up to 20 years in prison.
Armstrong, 4789 State Route 707, in November had entered a plea of guilty to count one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography as part of a plea agreement.
A federal grand jury in February 2021 indicted Armstrong on one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography, according to documents filed at the district court.
The indictment reads that from Feb. 10 to Feb. 22, 2021, Armstrong knowingly received and distributed visual depictions involving the use of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including prepubescent minors, documents state.
Armstrong initially was charged with coercion and enticement and receipt and distribution of child pornography.
A search warrant was executed on Feb. 22, 2021, at Armstrong's Rockford residence. He was taken into federal custody without incident at about 7 a.m. that day at his place of employment in Lima, according to an FBI news release.
Armstrong on Feb. 10, 2021, allegedly engaged in a conversation through an online message application with an individual he believed to be interested in sexual relations with minor females. The individual was actually an FBI online undercover employee.
Armstrong expressed that he shared the same interest, the release states. Over the next 10 days additional conversations reportedly took place between the FBI employee and Armstrong. Those conversations reportedly included the exchange of sexually explicit photos depicting underage females.
"The complaint alleges that Armstrong knows two underage females that he was hoping to engage in sexual activity with, a 5-year and a 6-year-old," the release states. "Armstrong informed the undercover employee that he has engaged in previous sexual activity with minor females."
