Wake Forest Man Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Child Pornography

NEW BERN – United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today KYLE CHRISTOPHER HEDDEN, 30, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, pled guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones, Jr. to one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B).  HEDDEN was named in a Criminal Information on July 15, 2014.  

According to the investigation, on November 1, 2013, an  agent working undercover involving a peer to peer file sharing network, discovered HEDDEN’S IP address downloading and sharing child pornography.  On February 4, 2014, a search warrant was executed at HEDDEN’S home and during a non-custodial interview, HEDDEN confessed to downloading and storing child pornography on his laptop.  A computer forensics examination of HEDDEN’S laptop and 16 harddrives found in his bedroom revealed approximately 250 videos and thousands of images of child pornography. At sentencing, set for the November 2014 term of court, HEDDEN faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.

The criminal investigation of this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 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.