An Indiana youth minister has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for exchanging images of child sexual abuse with a former Kentucky school superintendent.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, the investigation into 24-year-old Aaron Paul Lockman, began after the arrest of Matthew Constant, the former superintendent of Owensboro Public Schools.
Constant, 54, was initially arrested in 2023 on state charges and later pleaded guilty to federal offenses. He was sentenced in 2025 to 30 years in federal prison for online enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography, sexual exploitation of a minor and transferring obscene material to a minor.
During the investigation, federal agents discovered WhatsApp conversations between Constant and Lockman in which the two discussed their sexual interest in children and exchanged illegal images depicting child sexual abuse.
Lockman, of Corydon, Indiana, worked as a youth minister at a church in Jasper, Indiana. In that role, he supervised young boys and often took them on one-on-one outings, including trips to local restaurants, authorities said.
Investigators later searched Lockman’s church-issued computer and cellphone and found several videos showing minors under the age of 12, including material involving abusive conduct.
Lockman pleaded guilty in federal court to nine counts of possessing sexually explicit material involving minors.
In addition to the nine-year prison sentence, Lockman will serve five years of supervised release and must pay $9,000 in restitution.