BOISE - Stephen Roy Walker, 43, of Twin Falls, Idaho pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court to transportation and possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Walker was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 9, 2015.
According to the plea agreement, agents with the Department of Homeland Security served a search warrant at the Old Towne Lodge in Twin Falls, where Walker was living with three minor children, in February of 2014. Agents seized computers and electronic devices pursuant to the warrant, and a subsequent forensic examination of the devices revealed images of child pornography on the devices. In his plea agreement, Walker admitted that he transported 462 digital images and 42 digital videos containing child pornography from Texas to Idaho, and that he possessed the images while living in Idaho. Walker also admitted that 78 of the images containing child pornography, and 4 of the videos, depicted one of the children who was living with him at the Old Towne Lodge. Walker further admitted he took the images while living in Texas. Sentencing is set for Nov. 1, 2016, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill.
Transportation of child pornography is punishable by not less than five, and up to 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not less than five years and up to life, and a $100 special assessment. Possession of child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not less than five years and up to life, and a $100 special assessment. As part of his plea, Walker also agreed to forfeit two laptop computers, an external hard drive, and a digital camera used in the commission of the charged offenses.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and the Twin Falls Police Department, with assistance from the Buhl Police Department, the Idaho State Police, and the Twin Falls County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
