Sevierville man pleads guilty to child pornography

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Sevierville man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to one count of child pornography.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that Ronnie Joe Maples, 47, of Sevierville, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and was sentenced to 151 months in prison. He will be on supervised release for the rest of his life after his release from prison and will be required to register for the state sex offender registry and abide by special conditions for sex offenders, the Justice Department said.

Documents filed in the case explained that Maples and other individuals discussed actively abusing children and producing child pornography on the Internet. During the discussions, the DOJ alleges that Maples received child pornography from the individual.

In November 2022, the person Maples had been in contact with began cooperating with the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, the Justice Department explained. Law enforcement then obtained a search warrant for Maples’ Facebook account and cellphone, which confirmed that Maples had received the child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about PSC, visit www.justice.gov/psc