Fayetteville Man Videotapes Sex With Step-daughter

RALEIGH – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today IKE SIMMONS, 38, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, pled guilty before Senior United States District Judge W. Earl Britt to manufacturing child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2252(a) and (d). A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment returned on January 21, 2014.  

According to the investigation, in July, 2013, the mother of the victim contacted law enforcement reporting that her ex-husband had been molesting her 16-year-old daughter since 2009.  SIMMONS was arrested and three computer hard drives, along with his Iphone was seized.  Computer forensics later performed on the hard drive revealed that SIMMONS had videotaped the molestation using his cellphone and then transferred the videos to the hard drives.

SIMMONS is a previously convicted sex offender stemming from a 2003 conviction.

At sentencing, set for September 8, 2014, SIMMONS faces a minimum of 15 years imprisonment and up to a maximum of 30 years imprisonment.  If it is determined that he has had prior convictions related to sexual abuse, abusive sexual conduct with a minor, or an offense related to child pornography or sex trafficking of children, he faces a minimum of 35 years and a maximum term of imprisonment up to life.

The criminal investigation of this case was conducted by the Cary Police Department, the Apex Police Department, and the Fayetteville Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Ethan A. Ontjes is handling the prosecution on behalf of the Eastern District of North Carolina.

This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level.  For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.