CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A Gaston County man has been sentenced to 204 months in prison for possession and transportation of child pornography, announced Anne M. Tompkins, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Bobby Clarence Byrd, Jr., 44, of Lowell, N.C. was also ordered to serve 15 years under court supervision following his prison sentence and to register as a sex offender.
Joining U.S. Attorney Tompkins in making today’s announcement are Roger A. Coe, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Stacy Conley, of the Gastonia Police Department.
In November 2011, a federal criminal indictment charged Byrd with one count of possession and one count of transportation of child pornography. According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, in or about January 2011, Byrd transported or possessed 59 videos and 342 images depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as two years old.
Byrd pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2012. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement discovered that Byrd had sexually abused a young child in 2006. Byrd pleaded guilty to state charges and was sentenced to 16-20 months in state prison for his criminal conduct.
Byrd has been in local federal custody since December 2011. He will be transferred into the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. The investigation was handled by the FBI and Gastonia Police Department.
The prosecution for the government of Byrd was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cortney Escaravage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).
Related Federal Cases
- Robert Girard, Receipt of Child Pornography, NY, 2023 · Ohio
- Christopher Wittcop Admits to Possessing Child Pornography, Buffalo… · Ohio
- Shannon T. Lewis, Producing Child Pornography, NY, 2023 · Ohio
- Patrick Welch Sentenced to 20 Years for Child Pornography, NY, 2023 · Ohio
- Trevion Lechay Ethridge, Producing Child Pornography, Beaumont TX, … · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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