Registered sex offender arrested for alleged possession of child pornography

POCATELLO — A registered sex offender has been arrested after police investigated a cybertip alleging he had downloaded multiple videos of child pornography.

Zachary Gilbert, 39, is charged with 11 felony counts of possession of child pornography and an enhancement charge.

According to the criminal complaint, the enhancement charge is a mandatory minimum that can add up to 15 years to the total sentence. This is due to Gilbert being convicted of felony lewd conduct with a child in Bannock County in 2003, which required him to register as a sex offender.

According to the court documents, a detective with Idaho’s Internet Crime Against Children Task Force began to investigate a cybertip in September from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

The initial tip contained 23 files of child porn.

Five additional cybertips were filed, originating from Google and the social media app Kik. The document states most of the downloads were made in November, but some were downloaded in June.

Some of the files that were downloaded were reported to the NCMEC and depicted explicit content of bondage and sadism involving children.

The document details 11 pieces of media that show infants to children up to 12 years of age being sexually abused.

The Internet Protocol addresses provided by the recent cyber tips returned an address in Pocatello.

Pocatello Police detectives visited the address in January but were unable to identify who lived there, as no one answered.

However, there was a rock nearby that was painted or carved with the phrase “Smile More.” The document lists some of the usernames and email addresses that include the same phrase.

Looking into who lived at the address, detectives learned Gilbert lived there and was a registered sex offender on felony probation.

Speaking with a former neighbor, detectives were told that she had given her internet password to Gilbert in exchange for him doing yard work for her.

When she left the area, she recalled a note from Gilbert asking to buy her router, but she did not follow through with the sale. The neighbor provided Gilbert’s email address.

The detective contacted Gilbert’s probation officer and learned that Gilbert was not supposed to have internet access. The probation officer confirmed a selfie of Gilbert taken from Kik was him.

In March, a search warrant was issued for the address in Pocatello, and Gilbert was detained and taken to the police department for an interview.

After his Miranda rights were read, Gilbert was interviewed. He denied having any email or social media accounts and confirmed he was not supposed to have access to the internet.

The document states Gilbert had denied downloading child porn and using the internet from his neighbor.

When questioned about the selfie taken from Kik, Gilbert told the detectives he did not know how the image of himself ended up on Kik but did confirm that he had taken the image.

Gilbert was later shown the note he had left for his neighbor, asking to buy the router, and admitted to writing the note, but said he wanted to use the router to play games online.

He was arrested for violating his probation and booked into the Bannock County Jail.

Gilbert is scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge David Penrod for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 5 at 9 a.m.

Though Gilbert has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.