Richard Wallace Heald, III, Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charges in South Carolina

A 26-year-old Greenville man pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in federal court Wednesday. Richard Wallace Heald, III, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the crime.

According to U.S. Attorney Beth Drake, Heald was found to have over 120 child pornography videos on his computer. The videos were discovered after investigators downloaded them from a peer-to-peer filing sharing system using an IP address associated with Heald’s residence.

Heald’s computer was seized as part of a search warrant executed at his residence. An analysis of the hard drive revealed a user name of ‘Ricky Heald,’ but agents were able to access the device despite it being password protected.

The case was investigated by agents of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins 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.

Heald’s sentencing will be scheduled after the U.S. Probation Office prepares a presentence report. Contact Lance Crick at (864) 282-2100 for more information.

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