Holly Ridge Man Sentenced to More Than 22 Years for Producing Child Pornography

NEW BERN, N.C. – A Holly Ridge man was sentenced today to 270 months imprisonment followed by a lifetime of supervised release for Production of Child Pornography.  Aaron Halbeisen, age 35, pled guilty to the charge on March 15, 2023.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office initiated an investigation of Halbeisen in June 2019 following a tip from the Queensland Police Service in Australia, who were conducting an undercover investigation into an image sharing website. During the undercover investigation, one of the users posted a picture of a small child that constituted child pornography.  The IP address used to upload the photograph was leased by Halbeisen with an associated address in Holly Ridge, North Carolina. 

Homeland Security agents and detectives with Onslow County Sheriff’s Office went to Halbeisen’s residence and confronted him about the photograph.  Halbeisen admitted he had taken the photograph and acknowledged the child was someone with whom he had contact.  A search warrant was obtained for the residence to search any digital devices for additional contraband images. 

When Halbeisen’s digital devices were searched, additional images of the child were located on his phone that also constituted child pornography.  In addition, agents located hundreds of images of child pornography unrelated to the minor child. Agents also found numerous chats between Halbeisen and another user of the image sharing website wherein the two discussed the sexual abuse of minors as well as traded images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after the sentencing was concluded.  U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan presided over the sentencing.  The Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Onslow County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charity Wilson prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 7:20-CR33-FL