CHARLOTTE, NC – In a shocking case of child exploitation, Robert Bove, a 55-year-old Charlotte man, has been sentenced to 135 months in prison for possession and transportation of child pornography.
According to court documents, between September 2010 and February 2011, Bove transported and possessed videos and images depicting the sexual abuse of children. He pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2011.
The case began when a Sargent of the Sturgeon Bay Police Department in Wisconsin posed as a 42-year-old female and chatted online with Bove, who used the screen name “luvsyourlittlegirl.” During the online exchange, Bove sent the undercover officer an image of child pornography, which was later discovered to have been sent from a residence in Charlotte.
Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the residence, where they encountered Bove, who admitted to police that he was “luvsyourlittlegirl” and that there was child pornography on his home computer. A computer forensic examiner discovered videos and images of child pornography on Bove’s computer and flash drive.
The images and videos Bove possessed depicted children as young as toddlers engaged in sexual acts with adults. In determining Bove’s sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. considered evidence presented at the sentencing hearing that Bove had been previously the subject of a child pornography investigation in Colorado.
Bove has been in local federal custody since April 2011 and will be transferred into the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. He will also serve 20 years under court supervision following his prison sentence and register as a sex offender.
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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