Pocatello man charged with 14 felonies involving child pornography
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The following story contains graphic content of a sexual nature.
POCATELLO — A Pocatello man is facing 14 separate felony charges for distributing child pornography.
Liam Arthur Rollins, 30, has been charged for allegedly uploading videos to a message service showing children as young as 2 years old engaged in sex acts, according to court documents.
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Court records show the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office received a cyber tip reporting the alleged uploads of 15 images depicting child sex acts on April 7.
Deputies tracked IP addresses associated with the image uploads to two different email addresses belonging to Rollins. After obtaining search warrants, deputies searched the activity associated with the IP address and confirmed the accounts to be in use during the times of the uploads.
Around 8 a.m. on Oct. 27, members of the Idaho Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Pocatello Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office assisted the deputies in executing a search warrant at Rollins’ residence.
Rollins was seen leaving the residence in a red Ford Explorer. He was stopped a short time later, near the intersection of West Fremont Street and North Garfield Avenue and arrested. His work and personal cell phones were seized at the scene.
During an interview at the Pocatello police station, Rollins allegedly admitted to having and managing one of the email addresses associated with the investigation. He said that he could not remember if the other email address belonged to him.
He also admitted to having and managing an account on the messenger app in question.
After questioning, Rollins also admitted downloading and uploading images that featured children involved in sex acts. He allegedly told investigators that he had interacted with images of children as young as 2 or 3 years of age.
He went on to say that he had uploaded approximately 30 such images, claiming that a failing marriage and alcohol consumption led to poor decision-making.
He was arrested and transferred to Bannock County Jail on Oct. 27 and was held until he posted a $15,000 bond on Oct. 28.
If he is found guilty, Rollins will face up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $50,000 for each charge.
He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov.8.