Samuel Dexter Ray, Child Pornography, North Carolina 2018

A Snow Camp man has been sentenced for his role in a child pornography case.

On February 27, 2018, Samuel Dexter Ray, 60, of Snow Camp, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. He was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder to 78 months of imprisonment followed by 8 years of supervised release.

RAY was also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution after investigators searched his home on September 15, 2017, and seized several of his electronic devices. They ultimately found thousands of child pornography files on RAY's laptop and storage devices.

RAY downloaded the child pornography from the "dark web" and peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. The investigation was conducted by the Alamance County Sheriff's Office, a member of the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric L. Iverson. It was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the U.S. government to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

RAY's crimes are a stark reminder of the dangers of online child exploitation. It is up to all of us to report any suspicious activity and help bring perpetrators to justice.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdnc/pr/alamance-county-man-sentenced-child-pornography-charge