JACKSON— Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that a Southaven man has been arrested and charged with one count of child exploitation.
Joseph Landon Blankenship, 30, was arrested Monday at his home by investigators with the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit with assistance from the Southaven Police Department and the Mississippi Department of Corrections Probation and Parole. Investigators executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home following an investigation of online activity.
Blankenship was booked into the Desoto County Jail with no bond set. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. As with all cases, a charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
This case will be prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Brandon Ogburn of the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit.
