Elizabeth City Man Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment on Child Pornography Charges

RALEIGH — The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., announced that today, Chief United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, sentenced ALAN SIGFRED ANDERSEN, 57, of Elizabeth City, NC to 120 months’ imprisonment, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.  ANDERSEN pled guilty on November 13, 2019 to one count of possession of child pornography. 

In October 2017, an investigation into a file sharing network identified ANDERSEN’s IP address as advertising known child pornography files.  The investigation also revealed that files containing child pornography were directly downloaded from ANDERSEN’s IP address.  Following the identification of ANDERSON’s residence, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for his home.  On February 28, 2018, Special Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office executed the search warrant and numerous devices were seized from ANDERSON’s house.

ANDERSEN agreed to speak with investigators and, during the interview, admitted to downloading and storing child pornography.  A forensic review of the seized devices revealed multiple devices containing more than 16,000 images and videos of child pornography. 

This case is 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 initiative, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Homeland Security Investigations, the Cary Police Department, and Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation of this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Bryan M. Stephany represented the government.

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