Former Teacher's Assistant Sentenced For Possession Of Child Pornography
Offense Draws 10 Year Sentence, 35 Years Supervised Release
Greensboro, N.C. – A Randleman man who pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of child pornography was sentenced on August 11, 2011, announced United States Attorney Ripley Rand.
Richard Shane Silcox, 34, was sentenced by United States District Judge N. Carlton Tilley, Jr., to ten years in federal prison to be followed by thirty-five years of supervised release.
Silcox's cache of twenty (20) movies depicting children was discovered when Randolph County Sheriff's Office investigators, working in an undercover capacity, were able to gain access to the defendant's shared folders on his computer using P2P (peer-to-peer) software. Investigators were able to preview the shared videos that Silcox made publicly available from his home computer, determined the images were in fact images of child pornography, and executed a search warrant at his home in Randleman, North Carolina. After a complete forensic search of his computer, charges were filed against the defendant. Silcox had been employed as an elementary school teacher’s assistant in Randolph County.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Piedmont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (Randolph County County Sheriff’s Office) with assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anand P. Ramaswamy.
This 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
