BUFFALO, N.Y. — A former Limestone pet store owner will spend nearly two decades behind bars for persuading a woman to have sex with her son and another underage male in order to photograph the acts.
Kevin James Fox, 63, of Limestone, who pleaded guilty in October to receipt of child pornography, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Buffalo to 220 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release.
The sentence, which equates to more than 18 years in prison, was handed down by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Mango, who handled the case, said Friday that in May 2016, Fox persuaded an adult female, identified only as “T.M.,” to find a minor male and engage in sexual activity with him in order to produce a visual depiction.
T.M. met a 16-year-old male through Craigslist and began communicating with him via texts that were sexual in nature, according to prosecutors. On June 1, 2016, T.M. picked up the male and drove to her residence, where she engaged in sexual activity with him.
T.M. used her cell phone to take approximately five photographs and texted the images to a telephone number controlled by Fox, prosecutors said.
Fox also persuaded T.M. to engage in sexual activity with a 17-year-old male who was known to T.M., prosecutors said Friday, and between May 26 and June 21, 2016, she engaged in sexual activity with this male and once again took photographs and sent them to Fox.
Prosecutors previously identified this 17-year-old male as T.M.’s own son. When Fox was first arrested in 2016, prosecutors said he used multiple phone numbers to threaten T.M. and tell her the only way she could get out of danger was to have sexual contact with her son and photograph the acts.
However, Friday’s press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office made no mention of the fact the 17-year-old male was T.M.’s son, and simply stated Fox “persuaded” T.M. to have sex with this male.
When Fox was first charged in 2016, prosecutors made no mention of the 16-year-old male T.M. met via Craigslist and had sex with.
Fox had owned and operated Foxy’s Pet Foods and Supplies at 635 Main St. in Limestone for several years. FBI agents went to the pet store, which was on the same property as Fox’s residence, in order to serve the charges in July 2016.
Mango said Friday’s sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the FBI along with the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office.
