A Lexington resident has been arrested on a total of eight charges after allegedly sharing child sexual assault material.

William Jason Burgess, 44, arrested in October and again in mid-November of 2023 by the Lexington Police Department, has been changed with five counts of second degree sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of first degree sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 11 years of age. Additionally, he faces one count of first degree sexual exploitation of a minor by the Lexington County Sheriff's Department, according to a press release.

The release states that during a joint investigation with the state attorney general’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Burgess allegedly shared child sexual assault material via software that allowed people to connect over internet to share files. Investigators were able to determine that Burgess lived on Teesdale Court in Lexington’s Coventry neighborhood.

“In early October 2023, a search warrant was executed at his home, where over thirty pieces of evidence were seized and then forensically analyzed,” the release states. “Investigators found photographs depicting children in a state of sexually explicit nudity.”

“Investigators were able to identify two child victims who had been abused as far back as 2014 and as recently as April 2023” and were able to determine that the child sexual assault incidents occurred in Lexington, the release adds.

Based on evidence, it is believed that Burgess was involved with the underaged victims either online through social media or met with the victims locally, according to the release.