South MS sex offender shared sexual assaults of children as young as 1, feds say
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- Federal agents linked over 1,100 explicit child abuse files to the convicted sex offender
- Kevin A. Martin confessed to using phones to distribute material and delete evidence.
- Judge ordered Martin held pending an indictment and trial.
A convicted sex offender from South Mississippi is back in custody, this time facing a federal charge for distributing more than 1,100 sexually explicit images and videos of child sexual abuse, according to a Homeland Security Investigations agent.
Kevin A. Martin was arrested in September after HSI agents in Louisiana and Mississippi linked his Moss Point address to files showing the sexual assaults of child victims as young as 1 to 3 years old.
The investigation began when HSI agents in New Orleans discovered an internet address tied to the illegal files. That information was passed to Mississippi investigators, who traced the activity back to Martin. Authorities allege Martin started downloading and sharing the material as early as October 2024.
After his arrest, Martin went to federal court in Gulfport for his initial appearance before Judge Bradley Rath.
Martin waived his right to a preliminary hearing and admitted there was enough evidence to hold him pending trial. Agents said Martin confessed to downloading and sharing the files.
In addition, he told investigators he used a Nokia phone to access and distribute some of the material before deleting it in an attempt to avoid detection.
Martin also admitted to resetting another device to factory settings to cover his tracks, though investigators were able to recover the files. He described one of the videos he shared with investigators, acknowledging it involved a 15-year-old girl who identified her age on a sign in the recording.
Before his arrest in this case, Martin had been convicted of child exploitation in October 2020 in Jackson, according to the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry.
