A Liberty County woman has been sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison after admitting she produced and shared child pornography.
Sharon Elizabeth Keegan, 30, of Midway, Ga., was sentenced to 293 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to Production of Child Pornography, said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker also ordered Keegan to pay restitution of $3,000 and to register as a sex offender and serve 15 years of supervised release after completion of her prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
“This sentence brings to a close a depraved and vile episode of criminal child sexual exploitation,” said U.S. Attorney Estes. “Sharon Keegan and her husband will spend decades in federal prison as they are held accountable for their crimes.”
Keegan’s husband, John Paul Joseph Keegan, 31, of Midway, Ga., previously was sentenced to 295 months in prison after pleading guilty to Production of Child Pornography and Possession of Child Pornography. He also must serve 15 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender after completion of his prison term.
Sharon Keegan entered a guilty plea in April 2022 after three days of trial in U.S. District Court in Statesboro, Ga., while John-Paul Keegan pled guilty in May 2021.
Keegan and her husband were indicted in May 2020 after an investigation launched through a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to Homeland Security Investigations. Agents from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation searched the Midway mobile home where the Keegans resided, seizing electronic devices found to contain images and videos of child sexual exploitation that each of the two had produced and shared over the internet.
“Thankfully, this case has been resolved and the victims can begin the healing process knowing that these predators will no longer be able to prey upon them,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama.
This investigation took place under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood, and was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer J Kirkland and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator Tara M. Lyons, with assistance from Asset Recovery Unit Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Sue Robichaux.
