Man arrested after returning loaner phone allegedly filled with child pornography
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BLACKFOOT — A 41-year-old man has been arrested for nine felonies and one misdemeanor after allegedly possessing and sharing hundreds of images or videos of child pornography.
The arrest occurred after police say David O. McBride of Blackfoot returned a loaner phone to Metro PCS in late June, according to police reports. McBride told employees he had been having problems downloading photos from the phone and asked for help.
When employees tried to diagnosis and fix the problem they noticed a semi-nude underage female was displayed as the background of the lockscreen. Further investigation by two female employees revealed around 100 photos and 68 videos of 20 to 30 semi-nude or nude girls ranging in age from 9 to 15. Many of the children were shown posing sexually.
The employees reported the incident to police, and detectives arrived in early July to interview the employees and review the phone. Unfortunately, the phone had been erased by a different employee in preparation to be loaned to another individual.
The witness statements were enough to get a search warrant issued for all cellphones and electronic devices belonging to McBride.
On July 5, two detectives served a search warrant to McBride while he was shopping at a Family Dollar store. They confiscated his phone, and that of a 15-year-old juvenile who was with McBride. Detectives then took McBride to his home to search the premises.
While searching McBride’s phone detectives discovered 863 images or videos, according to court documents. The photos and video showed females ranging in age from 7 to 14 in various stages of undress. Many of the photos contained full nudity and some contained female children engaging in sexual acts with male children.
Child pornography was also discovered on the 15-year-old’s phone, and McBride later admitted to sharing child pornography with the juvenile, according to police reports.
Mcbride was arrested and later charged with nine felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child by possessing child pornography. He also was charged with misdemeanor disseminating material harmful to minor, according to court documents. Each felony count is punishable by prison for up to 10 years and/or as much as a 10,000 fine. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in county jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
He appeared in court on July 6 and was given a $100,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the Bingham County Courthouse.