Fayetteville Resident Sentenced For Receipt Of Child Pornography

RALEIGH – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that yesterday in federal court Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III, sentenced DONALD HIGGINS , 64, originally from Rochester, New York, to 180 months imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release and he is required to register as a Sex Offender.

A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on July 17, 2013.  On October 28, 2013, HIGGINS pled guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. 

According to the investigation, during the execution of a search warrant on August 6, 2012, agents located several books containing child pornography along with two computers, a hard drive multiple media storage devices and documentation giving instructions on how to sexually molest children.  Forensic examination of the seized items revealed more than 60,000 images and an undetermined number of videos depicting child pornography.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Fayetteville Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Ethan Ontjes prosecuted the case for the United States.

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.