Idaho man accused of making, distributing child pornography, federal indictment says
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Ruth Brown, Idaho Statesman
Editor’s note: This story contains graphic content.
BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — An 18-year-old Middleton man accused of possessing child pornography and having graphic conversations online about sexually abusing children has been federally indicted on more sex-crime charges.
A grand jury indicted Colton D. Turner on Dec. 11, accusing him of making child pornography, distributing that pornography and possessing child pornography.
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Turner was initially arrested in November in Canyon County and charged on suspicion of 10 counts of possessing child pornography, but after the federal indictment, the county charges were dismissed.
The Idaho U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged Turner in federal court with sexual exploitation of a child, transportation of child pornography, three counts of distribution of child pornography, and two counts of possession of child pornography.
A copy of the federal indictment alleges that in July, Turner engaged a juvenile in “sexually explicit conduct” for the purpose of taking videos or photos of that child. He is accused of then transporting those videos or photos from Oregon to Idaho and distributing them on the internet.
Turner is also accused of possessing child pornography involving a child younger than age 12.
Canyon County investigators initially claimed that Turner possessed more than 2,000 images of child porn and said he had online conversations about wanting to rape and kidnap young children, according to a probable cause affidavit in that case.
If Turner is convicted, sexual exploitation of a child is punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison, transportation of child pornography is punishable by five to 20 years in prison, each count of distribution of child pornography is punishable by five to 20 years in prison and each count child pornography possession is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.