Former airman to go to prison
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on August 11, 2016 1:46 PM
A former staff sergeant at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to 15 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of receiving child pornography.
Steven C. Davidson, 36, of Pikeville, was stationed at Seymour Johnson at the time of his offense in 2014 and worked as an air traffic controller.
Davidson pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography on Jan. 13 of this year. He received his sentencing on the charge Wednesday.
According to a release from the United States Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Office of Special Investigations at SJAFB launched an investigation on Nov. 5, 2014, after a government computer was used to conduct online searches for material related to child exploitation and child pornography.
As a result of the investigation, Davidson was identified as the person searching for the material based on his military log in credentials.
On Nov. 19, 2014, agents seized four government computers that Davidson had accessed within the past year at that time.
Agents also searched Davidson's residence on Nov. 19, 2014, and seized a computer.
The investigation yielded that Davidson was in possession of at least 720 pictures and 30 videos of child pornography.
The case was investigated by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
The investigation was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, which is a national program aimed at ensuring people exploiting children are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The Seymour Johnson Air Force Base office of Public Affairs did not respond by press time to a request for more information relating to Davidson's time in the Air Force.