Nicholasville man indicted, arrested on 21 counts of child pornography

Robert Wharff, 24, of 609 Hill Brook was arrested Monday, March 26, and charged with 21 counts of possession of matters portraying the sexual performance of a minor and one count of distribution of the same material.

A Jessamine County grand jury indicted Wharff on March 23 based on evidence provided by investigators in the cyber-crimes unit of the Kentucky Attorney General's Office in Lexington.

According to Allison Martin, communications director for the attorney general, an undercover operation identified Wharff on Nov. 2, 2011, for possible possession of child pornography.

Investigators executed a search warrant on Wharff's home and his personal computer Nov. 17 that yielded the evidence used to indict him last Friday.

Martin would not comment further on the methods used to identify him or the ongoing investigation against Wharff.

Jessamine County sheriff's deputies served the arrest warrant after the indictment at Wharff's home 9:30 a.m. Monday morning and took him into custody.

Currently, he is held in the Jessamine County Detention Center on a $50,000 full-cash bond. He is scheduled to be in circuit court 9 a.m. April 13.