IDAHO GOES DOWN Authorities discovered more than 6,000 obscene photos, leading to the arrest of a local man for allegedly possessing child pornography.
Fifteen felony counts of having child pornography were brought against Ricky Lamar Craig. Craig may be sentenced to up to 150 years in jail if he is proven guilty.
Two enhancements were submitted in accordance with the criminal complaint. First, the potential punishment is increased by five years for a chronic violator because of his prior felony convictions. Due to Craig’s prior conviction for felony possession of child porn, the second enhancement is a mandatory minimum enhancement that requires each offense to run consecutively for at least 15 years.
A investigator from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, who was collaborating with Idaho’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force, started looking into a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on April 23, according to court filings.
According to the documents, online businesses report users who either have explicit content about minors or speak inappropriately to youngsters to the NCMEC.
The Microsoft cybertip describes how similar photographs submitted by a user were located using Bing Visual Image Search. To view the picture, a search warrant was granted.
The pictures featured females between the ages of 7 and 11 exposing themselves in different ways to a camera.
A subpoena was sent to the internet service provider, along with an internet IP address. The service provider also supplied a mailing address, phone number, and email on March 20.
According to the paper, Craig owned the phone number and email.
Craig was charged with having child pornography, sexually abusing a minor, engaging in lewd and lascivious behavior, and failing to register as a sex offender in 2015, according to a search of his criminal history conducted in 1997 and 1998.
Craig is no longer on Idaho’s Sex Offender Registry, according to the paperwork.
Craig’s residence, car, and person were all the subject of a search order executed on June 18.
After being placed in handcuffs, Craig was brought to the Ammon Field Office of the BCSO for an interview. Craig discussed the cybertips with the investigator after being informed of his Miranda Rights.
When the detective inquired about an HP laptop that had been discovered at his house, Craig said it belonged to his kid. According to the document, Craig’s son has served time in prison.
Craig said that he had utilized Bing’s Image Search and was told the reason his account was flagged when the investigator inquired about it.
Craig denied it was him when the detective informed him that preteens’ naked photos had been uploaded. He just uploaded pictures of his grandson, he informed the detective.
According to the paper, Craig responded in the affirmative when the investigator asked him if he had ever visited porn websites and clicked on links that took him to other websites. Craig admitted to the investigator that he had seen pictures of young children in the nude, but he was unsure of their ages.
Craig stated that he believes he may have downloaded anything onto his computer.
Investigators asked Craig how many pictures of child porn were on his computer and informed him that the cybertips had been reported because of the uploaded photographs.
“I don’t know how this could have happened,” he replied. According to the records, Craig insisted that he never uploaded the pictures.
Craig said, “I sure hope not,” in response to the detective’s repeated question about if they would discover pictures of nude kids. He also denied that he had uploaded any pictures.
According to the paper, more time is required to examine his devices. Craig was free to depart and return home.
When a tablet was searched on July 14, 570 pictures of child porn were discovered. The pictures showed the screen of a Dell laptop.
According to the court filings, 7,386 images of sexual content, some of which featured bestiality, were discovered during a forensic examination of the Dell laptop.
On July 21, further pictures were discovered, and Craig’s son gave the Dell laptop’s PIN. 4,800 of the more than 20,000 photos and videos that were discovered featured child porn. A few days later, 976 more pictures were discovered on the HP laptop.
Girls as young as two are shown in the pictures and videos exposing themselves or experiencing sexual assault.
Craig’s preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Wiley Dennert is set for August 19 at 1 p.m.
Craig may not have committed these offenses, even if he has been charged with them. Until someone is proven guilty, they are all presumed innocent.
