Kegan Kline sentenced to 40 years after pleading guilty to child porn charges

Video with this story aired prior to the judge’s sentencing.

PERU, Ind. (WISH) — A judge on Thursday night sentenced Kegan Kline to 40 years in prison.

Kline pleaded guilty to dozens of child porn charges. The sentencing hearing had been going on all day. The judge did not allow cameras in the courtroom; Indiana law now gives judges the ability to allow cameras from the news media.

The prosecutor had asked for a 50-year prison sentence. Kline’s attorney had sought 11 years. A presentence investigation report had called for 35 years.

I-Team 8’s senior investigative reporter Richard Essex has been following the case for more than two years.

The prosecution had painted Kline as a master manipulator who preyed on the weakness of victims, family and everyone else he came into contact with.

The presentencing investigation took a deep dive in to Kline crimes and his character. The prosecutors painted Kline as a liar and master manipulator.

Kline used at least five fake social media profiles to solicit of sexually graphic pictures and videos from his victims.

A fake female profile, Emily Ann, with a variety of last names, was used on what the prosecutors say was Victim No. 1. She wrote a letter to the court saying she believed that Emily Ann was a real person. As a 13-year-old, she sent sexually graphic pictures.

Kline had such control over another girl. She took the pictures in a hospital bathroom while her mother was very ill. She had no idea she was being groomed by Kline.

He used the profile to tell outrageous stories of watching his family dying in a fire, a heroin addiction, anything to gain sympathy from his victims.

Kline used the fake female profile to introduce some of his victims to himself.

News 8 knows that he used the “anthony_shots” profile to contact teens Abby Williams and Libby German the day before they were murdered in Delphi in 2017.

Kline is said to have typically used the “anthony_shots” profile to impress young girls.

Investigators identified six victims that the charges were based on, but the prosecutors office says there are dozens, maybe hundreds more.

People in the courtroom Thursday heard that Kline tried to meet up with eight girls, but there was no evidence any of them met him.

Kline hit the radar of police when the “anthony_shots” profile was connected to the Delphi murders.

This story was created with information from I-Team 8’s Richard Essex.