A Florence man will spend 15 years in prison for child sex crimes.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Wednesday that Kevin Wayne Owen, 47, has been sentenced on two counts of child exploitation. Owen was indicted in January for using a secret camera to record a minor performing sexually explicit activities in 2020 and downloading child pornography onto his computer in 2022.
An undercover operation led by the attorney general’s team led investigators to pinpoint Owen as a suspect involved in criminal child sex abuse operations.
“Our team of investigators and prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Office is committed to protecting our children and making the Internet a safer place,” Fitch said. “AGO investigators uncovered Owen’s cache of child sex abuse material and the secret cameras he used to create it pursuant to an undercover operation and AGO prosecutors took the case to court. We will always seek justice for our children.”
Rankin County Circuit Court Judge Dewey Arthur sentenced Owen to 40 years, with 15 years to serve day-for-day without the possibility of parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The remaining 25 years of his sentence will be served on probation.
On top of his jail time and probation, Owen was ordered to pay $1,000 to the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund, $1,000 to the Mississippi Children’s Trust Fund, and $1,000 to the Mississippi Crime Victim Compensation Fund. He is also required to register as a sex offender.
The attorney general reminds the public that if anyone has information linked to a child being sexually exploited, they can report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or online.
