Area man nabbed in porn case
By From staff reports
Published in News on June 5, 2012 1:46 PM
RALEIGH -- A former coach and teacher at Hobbton Middle School at Newton Grove has pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge William A. Webb to distribution of child pornography.
Paul Stephen Pearsall, 31, of Roseboro, faces up to 20 years in jail at sentencing.
An investigation of online trafficking in child pornography identified a man in Roseboro who was sharing photos depicting the sexual abuse of young boys. After seeing the same user offering the same sort of images on multiple occasions, investigators traced the source of the images to the Roseboro home of Pearsall.
In October 2011, a search warrant was executed at Pearsall's residence, and forensic examination of computer equipment located at the home revealed hundreds of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
The case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level.
For more information about this national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jay Exum is prosecuting the case. Anyone having information relevant to this case should contact the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Cybercrimes Unit at 919-779-8130.