Travelers Rest Man Receives 151 Months for Possession of Child Porn

Contact Person: Bill Watkins (864) 282-2100

Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Walter T. Alexander, age 31, of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, was sentenced yesterday to 151 months imprisonment and placed on life-time supervised release for possession of child pornography. United States District Judge Timothy M. Cain presided over the case.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that law enforcement began an investigation of Alexander after learning that an e-mail address associated with him had uploaded an image file containing child porn.  The file was uploaded on October 10, 2012.  A state law enforcement officer reviewed the upload and concluded that it did indeed contain child porn.  Further investigation traced the IP address connected to the e-mail account to Alexander’s residence. 

On April 22, 2013, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Alexander’s residence.  They seized his computer and conducted a forensic examination of it.  Approximately 90 child porn videos and 170 still images were found-- that is, images and videos of minors under the age of 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct and the lascivious display of the genitals.  Some of the minors had not attained the age of 12 and were prepubescent.  Law enforcement also discovered requests Alexander had made via the internet for women with small children to contact him for sexual activity. 

The case was investigated by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Investigations, and the State Law Enforcement Division.  Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville office handled the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.