Summerville Man Gets Four Years for Child Pornography Offense

COLUMBIA, SC—Acting United States Attorney KEVIN F. MCDONALD stated today that KEVIN J. POWERS, age 47, of Summerville, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court in Charleston, for Possession of Child Pornography, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252A(a)(5)(B). Senior United States District Judge P. Michael Duffy of Charleston sentenced Powers to four years' imprisonment, followed by life-time supervised release.

Evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing established that Powers downloaded child pornography from the Internet using the Limewire file-sharing program. In March 2009, Powers’ wife called the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office to report that she had found child pornography on his computer. After deputies arrived, Powers consented to the search of his computer and agreed to be interviewed. He confessed to downloading thousands of images of child pornography over the last five years. A forensic examination of Powers’ computer found more than 100 videos of child pornography.

The case was investigated by agents of the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Rhett DeHart of the Charleston office prosecuted the case.