An Owensboro man has pleaded guilty to 20 felony counts of possessing child sexual abuse material under a plea agreement that calls for a 20-year prison sentence and lifetime registration as a sex offender.
Joey Rust, 47, entered the guilty plea Thursday in Daviess Circuit Court. Under the agreement, Rust pleaded guilty to Counts 1-20 of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor older than 12 but younger than 18. He received one year on each count, with the sentences ordered to run consecutively for a total of 20 years, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Van Meter. Counts 21-40 were dismissed as part of the agreement. Final sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 1.
Van Meter said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Leigh Jackson prosecuted the case.
The charges stemmed from an investigation by the Owensboro Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that began after detectives received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
According to court records, investigators determined Rust had uploaded a video depicting child sexual abuse material to his Google Drive account. Detectives located the reported video along with three additional videos during the investigation. After a search warrant was executed at Rust’s Pennbrooke Avenue residence on Jan. 16, 2025, Rust admitted to possessing multiple videos of child sexual abuse material, according to an arrest citation.
A forensic examination of Rust’s cellphone later uncovered hundreds of additional images and videos of child sexual abuse material. Because of legal limits on the number of charges that can be filed for the offenses, investigators ultimately charged Rust with 16 additional counts involving children younger than 12 and 20 counts involving minors ages 12 to 17.
Rust pleaded guilty to the 20 counts involving minors younger than age 12.
