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Press Release

Former Judicial Candidate Convicted On Child Enticement & Child Pornography Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Alabama

BIRMINGHAM – A federal jury today convicted a Birmingham man and former candidate for a Jefferson County Circuit Court judgeship of attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and of receiving and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr.

Following a two-day trial before U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor, the jury deliberated about two hours before convicting CHUCK HUNTER, 59, for using the Internet and a telephone in an attempt to persuade a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy to engage in a sexual act. The jury also convicted Hunter of receiving child pornography over the Internet, and of possessing child pornography with the intent to view it.

Hunter was immediately taken into federal custody. He is scheduled for sentencing July 9.

“My office is committed to keeping our communities safe, and we continue to work aggressively to prosecute those who would seek to exploit children,” Vance said.

Hunter was arrested in June after an undercover police officer, posing as a 14-year-old boy, responded to an advertisement posted on the Internet seeking people less than 30 years old for sex, according to court testimony. Following several communications in which the Alabama Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force officer continued to identify himself as a minor child, Hunter arranged a meeting at a restaurant in Jefferson County with the person he thought to be 14 years old. Police arrested Hunter when he showed up for the meeting. Following Hunter’s arrest, police obtained a search warrant for his Southside Birmingham home and seized computer media containing images of child pornography, according to testimony.

Hunter had been a candidate for a place on the Jefferson County Circuit Court, but was removed from the November ballot following his arrest.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and HSI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Fortune and Elizabeth Holt prosecuted the case.



Updated March 19, 2015