Idaho Falls man federally indicted on child pornography charge
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IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls man has been federally indicted for allegedly having child pornography.
Federal court records show on Feb. 11, Jeffrey Benjamin Spracher, 21, was charged with federal possession of child pornography. Spracher was previously arrested in December after an investigation by the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and local law enforcement.
Spracher had been charged in Bonneville County with 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child; however, on Friday, Bonneville County prosecutors asked those charged be dismissed because of the federal indictment.
Court documents indicate the investigation into Spracher began after over a dozen tips were submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Locally, Spracher had been facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count. Federal charges could get him up to 20 years if convicted for the alleged crime, in addition to at least five years of supervised release.
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While the federal complaint does not go into specifics, local charging documents allege Spracher had hundreds of images of child pornography on a Gmail account linked to him.
In December, detectives spoke with Spracher after arresting him near his apartment on Meppen Drive.
“During the interview, Jeffery admitted to downloading child pornography,” the probable cause statement reads. “Jeffery admitted that the Gmail account was his and that he is interested in pornography that is ‘taboo.’”
While being interviewed, Spracher talked about liking to collect child pornography, including images of toddlers and infants being sexually abused.
Although Spracher is charged with a crime, it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
There are no scheduled court dates for the federal case.